Pancake pudding recipe

This irresistible pancake pudding combines soft baked pears in a rich, sweet caramel sauce with a puffed up pancake batter. 

We love it because it's a quick and really impressive pudding to pull together. In fact, it's perfect for serving up after a Sunday roast. It's almost like a sponge cake. This recipe was originally created by Ruth Clemens, a finalist from The Great British Bake Off. However, although you are making your own pear-infused caramel sauce, you don't need any special cooking skills or equipment. If you're after a more classic way to serve up your caramel pears, you can simply use as a topping for this classic pancake recipe.

Ingredients

• 3-4 Conference pears
• 75g butter
• 100g light brown muscovado sugar
• 1 star anise

For the  pancakes:

• 100g plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 medium egg
• 300ml whole milk

You will also need:

• 20cm (8") flan dish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7. Peel, core and quarter the pears.
2. In a large pan heat the butter and sugar until melted. Add the quartered pears and star anise to the pan and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes, turning the pears in the sauce occasionally. Remove from the heat and transfer the pears and caramel sauce to a flan dish. Discard the star anise.
3. To prepare the batter, place the flour and salt in a bowl. Beat the egg lightly with a fork, make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add to the bowl with a little of the milk. Stir well to combine adding milk gradually until all of the flour is worked in. Beat well adding the remaining milk. The batter should be the consistency of single cream.
4. Pour the batter over the pears and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the middle is set and the top is golden. Serve warm.

Top tips for making pancake pudding

The star anise infuses a lovely spiciness into the pears as they cook, but don't forget to remove it before you bake the pudding. They are sharp and hard so you don't want your guests accidentally biting into one.

You can serve this with cream, ice cream or, our favourite, custard. If you have time you could even make your own with this custard recipe.

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