Pear, almond and vanilla cake

This weekend, another purchase from Istanbul made its way into a rather English recipe in my kitchen.

The beautifully scented vanilla pods I bought at the Spice Market, I decided, would taste great with the locally grown pears I bought yesterday at Borough Market. And, a look through my cupboards resulted in the discovery of a half-full packet of ground almonds that I’d forgotten about – a perfect additon to the pear/vanilla combination.

So, I took a basic vanilla cake recipe, courtesy of David Herbert, food editor at Easy Living, and added in a grated pear and the leftover ground almonds… et voila! A warming, nutty, fruity cake.

Now I’m going to do the only thing you should do on a Sunday afternoon – put my feet up in front of the television with a big pot of coffee and a hunk of cake.

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