Pear and chocolate cake
There are countless pear cakes to try. Today I chose one with chocolate: I once baked something similar and loved that combination. I hope my family enjoys this version too.
I made a double batch, so the photos show twice the listed quantities.
I chopped the chocolate rather too coarsely. Next time I will cut across the bar again to make smaller pieces.
I had pears of the "Forest Beauty" variety. Their skin is very tough. It must be cleaned off, otherwise it will be felt strongly in the pie.
Remove the core from the pears and cut into slices.
Separate the whites of the eggs from the yolks. Beat the whites into a strong foam with a pinch of salt.
In another bowl, beat soft margarine with sugar and yolks.
Add the cold milk and flour in several additions to make a thick but pourable batter. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites with a spatula, lifting from the bottom to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.
Divide the batter roughly in half and mix chopped chocolate into one portion. Dark chocolate is ideal, but I used milk chocolate with nuts because that was what I had.
Pour the chocolate batter into the greased pan.
Place pear slices on top. I laid it out tightly, even slightly overlapping. Pour the remaining dough onto the pears and smooth out.
Place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Baking time is about 50 minutes.
Remove the finished pie from the mold and cool. Serve with aromatic tea, milk or a scoop of ice cream.