Does This Count as a Fruit Serving?

Mmmmm ... I've definitely been more into cooking than baking lately, but Don called me the other day after listening to a salivacious interview on NPR with a chef, or cook of some sort -- a woman who talked about a few of her dishes that made Don drool. He emailed me the link, and tonight we tried the dessert:

Chocolate Pear Pudding Cake

It's a fruit ... right?

Quite tasty, really. Not nearly as rich as I thought it would be -- but that's not a bad thing. I wasn't looking forward to a lump of chocolate setting up weighty residence in my stomach. This was rather light, and the pears gave it a touch of sweetness to off-set the potential bitterness of the chocolate. It called for a sidekick of either vanilla ice cream or chocolate sauce, neither of which I had on hand. Unfortunately the only thing resembling a topping was some horribly junky squirt cream in a can. Next time I'll know better.

Have a go of it -- if you like chocolate, you won't find fault with this treat.

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CHOCOLATE PEAR PUDDING CAKE

* 2 cans (14 ounces each) pear halves in juice
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
* 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
* 1/4 cup cocoa powder
* 1 1⁄4 sticks softened butter, plus more for greasing
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2-inch square oven-proof dish with butter.

Drain the pears and arrange them in the dish.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a food processor and blitz till you have a batter with a soft dropping consistency.

Spread the batter over the pears. Bake for 30 minutes.

Let stand for 5 or 10 minutes before slicing. (I cut 2 down and 2 across to make 9 slices.) Serve with chocolate sauce or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6 to 9.