Chef Patti Sloley shares her pear and plantain cake recipe in our dish of the week, a delicious Ghanaian-influenced alternative to the traditional Christmas cake.
Credit: Patti Sloley
Born and educated in Ghana, West Africa and having lived in the UK since 1985, Patti is a creative fusion chef at Novelli Academy culinary school and the author of two cookbooks.
Passionate about fusion African and western recipes, Patti’s pear and plantain Christmas cake recipe was created by chance through a long-distance phone call with her mum who lives in Ghana. A delightful alternative to the western fruit-filled Christmas cake, Patti’s version has no sugar, no butter, no eggs, so yes, no kidding; you truly can have your cake and eat it!
Sharing her pear and plantain recipe during a recent appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, Patti looked resplendent in her bright red ankara outfit.
Credit: ITV
The recipe is simple to make and Patti encourages people to swap the pear for any other kind of tinned fruit that you’d prefer.
Pear, raspberry & plantain pudding
Makes 2lb loaf
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 50-60 minutes
Ingredients
2 plantains, overripe with black skin and soft to touch
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp grated nutmeg
100g sultanas
100g raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 tsp almond extract
400g tin pear halves, drained and chopped
2tbsp rapeseed oil
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4
- Peel and blend the plantain. Place into a mixing bowl.
- Gently mix in the cinnamon, nutmeg, sultanas, raspberries, almond extract, chopped pears and oil.
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder and gently mix again to combine.
- Spoon into a greased 2lb loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with coffee mascarpone (see recipe below).
Tips:
Tinned fruits like mango and fruit cocktail and dried ones like figs and dates are also suitable alternatives in place of tinned pears. Try swapping blackberries for raspberries instead.
A good swap for plantains is very ripe large bananas.
Watch Patti make her Christmas cake on Lorraine
Try more Dish of the Week recipes.
