Monday, August 6, 2012

Pear Spice Cake



Hi everyone.  Hope you had a great weekend. My weekend was busy, but lots of fun for the most part.  I started off Saturday morning at the tax agent getting my annual tax return done.  This obviously was not my favourite thing, but it had to be done, and nothing like getting it out of the way bright and early. 

On Saturday afternoon, Tim and I went for lunch to China Red in inner city Melbourne.  The fun part about this place is that diners order using touch screens mounted on the wall near their table.  The only catch is that once you have ordered, you can't change your mind.  I ordered the pork in plum sauce, which was just devine - it was rich, fruity and spicy without being hot.  Tim ordered a sizzling beef, which was slightly hotter because of the presence of chillis.  I washed my excellent meal down with a red lemonade - gotta love a place that serves red lemonade.

After that, we went on to a matinee session of Eat Pray Laugh, Dame Edna's farewell touring show.  It opened with Sir Les Patterson spluttering all over the audience as he unveiled his new career as a celebrity cook, ably assisted by his "condiments", Basil, Saffron, Rosemary and Dukkah.  Someone in the dress circle became unwell during Sir Les' performance, and we had a brief unscheduled interval while they were attended to.  We then met Sir Les' brother, Gerard, a priest, for the first time.  Gerard wears an ankle bracelet, so you know that Gerard has been a bad priest.  Gerard held a seance to conjure up the resident ghost of Glen Iris (a Melbourne suburb), Sandy Stone.  We learn that Sandy's ashes were scattered on Eric Raven Reserve in Glen Iris by his wife Beryl, who now languishes in a retirement home.  Sandy gave a haunting rendition of My Blue Heaven, in honour of his long lost daughter, June, accompanied by an empty tricycle moving eerily by itself.  Only at the end of Sandy's stint did his well worn armchair and lamp, encased in dust covers, descend from the ceiling.  Sandy strapped himself into the armchair with a seatbelt and rose up into the heavens. 

After interval, Dame Edna herself appeared in fine form on an elephant, clad in a sparkling turquoise sari, shapely pins visible beneath her split skirt.  Her wit was as razor sharp as ever, although she seemed to be a little hard of hearing.  Tami from Michigan, Sandy from Ballarat, Noel from Brighton and an unidentified "senior" (a male) joined Edna on stage to discover who they were in a past life (you'd be surprised!).  Little seven year old Alana was also the subject of "special" attention from Edna and joined her briefly on stage. Of course, an Edna performance would not be complete without the waving of the gladioli, which was duly done after a spectacular quick change on stage by Edna into a bright red and purple dress.  The show finished with a stirring recording of Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye as the background to a parade of Barry Humphries' colourful creations on screen (none of whom I recognised apart from the aforesaid).  At the very end, Barry himself, resplendent in a black velvet smoking jacket, complete with frogging, came out to give us a bow.

On Sunday, Tim and I went to a preview screening of The Sapphires movie, very loosely based on the story of an all female Aboriginal singing group  who go to entertain the US troops in Vietnam during the war.   It is a very funny film, despite its serious backdrop, and features some terrific '60s music.  Chris O'Dowd (remember Roy from The IT Crowd?) is brilliant in this - so casually hilarious, and I understand that he was given some liberty with his lines so that his humour could shine through.  I'm a fan and hope that his career continues to soar. A bonus for us is that we got a free Connoisseur icecream  at the screening (mine was caramel honey macadamia).

Still with me?  Oh right then, the cake.  This pear spice cake recipe came from Martha Stewart via Sophistimom, and you can find the recipe here.  I didn't frost my cake, as I made it in a decorative  rose bundt tin which needed no adornment.  The cake was lovely and moist and sweet from the pear sauce, making the frosting unnecessary:


I loved this cake, which had perfect warm spicy undertones for winter, and it went pretty quickly at work.  It's also easy to make, so if you fancy a bit of cake with your afternoon tea, you won't go wrong with this cake.

Enjoy your week.  

11 comments:

Kathy said...

Oh, This looks so delicious…a perfect accompaniment with afternoon tea! Lovely!!

Unknown said...

I love pears baked in cakes and this one looks perfect!
Hope you're off to a great week;-)

Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

Pear and spices are made for each other :D

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

Kari said...

Oh, tax. Ugh. At least your weekend improved after that! And this cake looks divine - right in my taste category too.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

It sounds like you had a very full weekend! :D

Blond Duck said...

Even though it's 104 I still want some.

cocoa and coconut said...

Love the cake tin you would have used to make this. Pear or apple in cakes is one of my weaknesses..thanks for sharing and also thanks for stopping by my blog!

Johanna GGG said...

your cake looks pretty and perfect to enjoy with a cup or tea!

love barry humphreys - sounds like a great performance to attend. Though I am unlikely to see it, at least hopefully I will see the sapphires at some stage - seems a great film - david and margaret loved it too

Susan said...

I don't know how I missed this one! I have the same rose pan, so will have to give it a try - pears are so wonderful in cakes!

Cindy said...

I do love your pan--can one have too many bundt pans??
Since it's 100 in Utah today I'll wait a month or two to make this cake. But it does look yummy.

Kayte said...

What a pretty bundt cake! Looks like a perfect winter food...comforting and warm and delicious. Fun to read about your weekend...you did a lot in one weekend!! Red Lemonade sounds so good right now...it's hot here, and the red color is really intriguing!