Tarte de Cambrai

Now, this is one of those puddings that should not need a recipe. This is one of those dishes that your nan or your mum just used to knock up, seemingly out of thin air, and deliver still warm from the oven to the dinner table. Warm, substantial and soothingly unctuous this Tarte de Cambrai is one dessert that will slot effortlessly into your repertoire. I have used Beurre Bosch pears today in an effort to stick with tradition, but this could easily be made with whatever fruit you have on hand.

The recipe is adapted from the Fruit Book by Jane Grigson. It is simple, easy, and wholesomely rewarding… try it for yourself!

Ingredients

For the fruit:

4-5 ripe pears
juice of half a squeezed lemon

For the batter:

10 tablespoons of self raising flour
8 tablespoons of vanilla sugar (or caster sugar with a few drops of vanilla extract)
4 tablespoons of a neutral oil (vegetable, rice bran etc.)
2 eggs
8 tablespoons of milk

For the topping:

60gms unsalted butter
caster sugar to sprinkle over

How to do it

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Then peel the pears and slice them evenly before squeezing over the lemon juice to prevent any discolouration. Set aside.

2. Add the ingredients for the batter to a bowl in the order noted above. When all are added give them a whisk to combine, but don’t over work.

3. Grease a 23cm flan dish (or cake pan) and pour in the batter. Arrange the pear slices on top, dot with some chopped butter and a sprinkle over a little more caster sugar.