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450 g puff pastry (paste), thawed if
frozen
75 g unsalted (sweet) butter
75 g caster (superfine) sugar,
plus extra for sprinkling
1 egg, beaten
150 ml soured (dairy sour) cream
100 g self-raising (self-rising) flour
2.5 ml ground ginger
15 ml cocoa (unsweetened chocolate) powder
25 g ground almonds
410 g can of pear halves, drained, reserving the juice |
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Method:
Cut the pastry into two pieces, one
slightly larger than the other. Roll out the smaller piece to a 20
cm/8 in round and the larger to a 23 cm/9 in round. Place the smaller
round on a dampened baking (cookie) sheet.
Beat together the butter, sugar and all but 10 ml/2 tsp of the egg.
Stir in the cream, flour, ginger, cocoa and almonds. Spread over the
pastry on the baking sheet, leaving a small border all round. Top with
the pear halves. Brush the border with a little of the reserved egg.
Place the larger pastry round over the top and press the edges
together to seal. Knock up the edge with the back of a knife. Mark the
top with a sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern to decorate, then
glaze with the remaining beaten egg. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in a
preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for about 40 minutes until
risen, crisp and golden. Serve warm with the reserved pear juice.
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