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240 g cake flour
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100 g Cacao Powder
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5 ml Bicarbonate of Soda
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5 ml baking powder
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2,5 ml salt
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200 g castor sugar
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3 eggs
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200 ml buttermilk
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300 ml Sunflower Oil
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125 ml Red wine
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5 ml vanilla extract
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Poached Pears
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8 just-ripe firm pears, peeled
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500 ml Red wine
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250 g castor sugar
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3 cinnamon stick
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6 whole star anise
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20 ml Orange Zest
Serves 10
- Preheat oven to 180° Grease a Bundt cake tin very well and dust with cacao powder.
- Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, castor sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well to combine.
- In another bowl mix the eggs, buttermilk, wine, oil and vanilla.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt cake tin. Bake for ±35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely
TO MAKE POACHED PEARS:
- Combine the wine, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and orange zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add the pears and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the pears, turning them occasionally until the pears are tender.
- Cool the pears in the cooking liquid and drain once cold. Keep the pears aside and boil the syrup on medium heat until reduced.
TO SERVE: Drizzle some of the reduced syrup over the cake and serve the cake with the poached pears and more red wine syrup.
