Pear and cinnamon cake

Serves 6-8

This is a variation on my wife's simple cinnamon cake, with the addition of fruit and brown sugar to make it more wintery than the original. What I love is that it's really quick and you don't even have that dreaded wait for it to cool down completely – it's at its best eaten warm.

75g/3oz butter, softened
125g/4oz soft dark-brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
175g/6oz self-raising flour
80ml/3fl oz milk
50g/2oz walnuts, roughly chopped
1 pear, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Beat the butter, sugar and cinnamon with electric beaters until pale and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Tip in the flour, milk and most of the walnuts and mix until combined.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined 20cm cake tin, and dot the pears over the top with the remaining walnuts. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before removing. Brush the cake with a little honey before serving warm.