Super-dark ginger whisky cake with clementine cream cheese icing

Serves eight to 10

For the icing

• 65g black treacle
• 65g golden syrup
• 120g unsalted butter
• 120g soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp good quality whisky
• 180g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 egg
• 100g milk

• 75g very soft butter
• 200g full fat cream cheese
• 100g icing sugar
• 1 clementine
• 0.5 lemon
• 8 not-quite-ripe pears
• 250g port
• 150g soft light brown sugar
• 8 cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 100g hazelnuts

Step 1
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and line a the base and sides of a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

Step 2
In a small pan, melt the treacle, golden syrup, butter, sugar and whisky over a low heat, stirring gently, then take off the heat once the sugar dissolves.

Step 3
Transfer to a bowl, and sift the flour, ginger and a pinch of salt on top.

Step 4
Gently fold to combine, then stir in first the beaten egg followed by the milk.

Step 5
Pour into the tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean, then leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Step 6
While the cake is baking, beat the soft butter in a large mixing bowl until light, pale and pillowy-soft (to save on the elbow grease, I use an electric beater).

Step 7
Mix in the cream cheese until thoroughly combined, then sift in the icing sugar and fold through.

Step 8
Fold in the citrus zest and juices, spread the icing over the cooled cake and serve.

Step 9
Peel of ½ lemon, plus the juice of 1 lemon.

Step 10
Half-fill a mixing bowl with cold water and add half the lemon juice.

Step 11
One at a time, peel the pears, cut them in half lengthways, and scoop out and discard the cores.

Step 12
Drop each pear into the acidulated water as you go, to stop them turning brown.

Step 13
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6.

Step 14
Put the port, sugar, lemon zest, cardamom, bay and pepper into a large pan and bring to a boil.

Step 15
Lift the pears out of their lemony bath and lay them out cut side down in a baking dish into which they’ll sit snugly in a single layer.

Step 16
Pour over the port mixture and the juice of the remaining half-lemon, then bake for 35-45 minutes, until just tender, turning them once halfway: the timing will depend on how ripe your pears are to begin with, so check them every 15 minutes, and baste when you check.

Step 17
Toast the hazelnuts in the same oven for about five minutes, until golden, then roughly chop.

Step 18
Serve the hot pears and their syrupy juices sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts and with scoops of vanilla ice-cream on the side.