I made a baker's easy 45-minute pear cake with pears I grew in my garden - it was so moist

September typically marks the start of the harvesting season when it comes to pears. I've been growing pears in my garden for over 10 years now, and this year the yield has been particularly great. However, with the tree producing so much fruit, it can be tricky to get through them all before they go bad.

While I do slice many of them up before freezing to keep them lasting for six months, I wanted to bake some desserts with them. The first recipe I found that I had all the ingredients for was a pear and vanilla upside-down cake from Great British Bake Off star James Morton. The only change I made to it was swapping vanilla pods for vanilla extract - it still offered the same sweet flavour.

Ingredients

For the sponge

• 250g of softened butter
• 250g of caster sugar
• Four medium eggs
• 75g of Greek yoghurt
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 260g of self-raising flour
• One teaspoon of baking powder

For the topping

• Two to four pears, peeled and thinly sliced, depending on the size of the fruit
• 100g of butter
• 200g of caster sugar
• Juice of half a lemon

Method

I started by lining the bottom of an eight-inch springform tin with baking paper and then greasing it well. I preheated my oven to 150°C fan.

To prepare the upside-down bit, I heated the butter, caster sugar and lemon juice together in a pan, stirring all the time until it was all melted and the colour turned from yellow to a slightly brown shade. Then I poured this onto the base of the tin and arranged the pears on top.

In a large bowl, I added the butter and sugar and beat them together until smooth, light and creamy with an electric hand whisk - this took around four minutes.

I added the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then I added the yoghurt and vanilla extract and beat them in as I did the eggs. Don't worry if you notice the mixture starts to curdle, as it's normal at this time.

Next, it was time to gently fold in the flour and baking powder, just enough to combine. If it isn't at a dropping consistency, stir in a touch more yoghurt or a little milk.

After, it was time to pour the mix onto the caramel and fruit topping. Unfortunately, the caramel hadn't set fully before pouring in the mixture, so the pears moved around at this point.

I made sure to put a tray under the baking tin as a lot of the caramel will seep out during cooking.

Bake in the oven for approximately 40 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown and springy, and a skewer comes out clean. I found that 45 minutes worked perfectly.

Once ready, I left the cake to cool for 20 minutes before removing it from the tin. Turn the whole thing upside down before carefully peeling away the base paper.