225g softened butter, plus extra for the tin
225g light brown soft sugar
225g self-raising flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 eggs
For the filling and topping
397g can pears
150g mascarpone
300ml double cream
50g light brown soft sugar icing sugar, for dusting
1 fresh pear slice (about 1/2cm thick), to decorate
1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Butter the bases of two 18cm round cake tins and line with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, eggs and 1/2 tsp salt, and mix until just combined.
2 Divide the batter between the tins, level the surfaces and bake for 25-30 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
3 For the filling, drain the canned pears in a sieve set over a bowl, reserving the juice. Tip the mascarpone, cream and brown sugar into a bowl, and whisk with an electric whisk until the mixture is just holding its shape, but is still soft. Spoon into a piping bag.
4 To assemble the cake, cut the cooled sponges in half through the equator. Put one sponge on a cake plate or board. Brush over some of the reserved pear juice. Snip off the end of the piping bag and pipe some cream over the middle, then spread into a thin layer. Pipe blobs of cream around the edge. Arrange a third of the canned pear slices in the middle, then top with a second sponge. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients, finishing with the final sponge.
5
Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar, pipe a final dot of cream over the middle, then top with the fresh pear slice. Cut the cake into wedges to serve. (If you aren’t serving the cake straightaway, sprinkle some lemon juice over the fresh pear slice to prevent browning.)
Will
keep
chilled
for
up
to
two
days.