This is the most wonderful combination. And it looks pretty too, served upside-down. And a bonus: it’s gluten-free. 5 under-ripe pears
180g dark chocolate [we used 85%]
250g butter
6 eggs
175g sugar
100g ground almonds
2 tbsp Poire William liqueur [which we didn’t have so I left out] Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 5. Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin.

Peel, core and cut the pears into eighths. Arrange them core-side down in a fanned circle at the bottom of the tin. Put a pan on the heat with a little water in it and set a heatproof bowl over it. Break up the chocolate and melt together with the butter in the bowl. This step can also be done in the microwave. 
While they are melting, beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy [top]. Stir the melted chocolate mix into the egg mix [above]. Next carefully fold in the ground almonds [below]. Tip the batter into the tin and bake for 45-50 minutes. To see if it is baked through, use a skewer to test the centre. As soon as it comes out of the oven, pour over the liqueur [if using]. Leave to cool in the tin. 5 to remember
al revés – upside-down
el licor – the liqueur
un plus – a bonus
sin gluten – gluten-free
la masa – the batter [for a cake]

Recipe by Florence Knight from One: A Cook and Her Cupboard [UK: Saltyard Books]

If you like this, try these:-
Iced Apricot Fruit Loaf
Cherry and Almond Traybake
White Chocolate and Cranberry Flapjack

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
A yummy chocolate and pear cake #Recipe by @FlorenceKnight #Spain via @Spanish_Valley http://wp.me/p3dYp6-1rq