My birthday cakes

I celebrated my birthday with two gorgeous cakes I shared with my colleagues and with my family. The two cakes are very different from each other but complement each other’s flavour in some way. Here they are.

Chocolate pear cake

You need: 200 g of flour, 100 g of sugar, 70 g of butter, 200 g of dark chocolate, 100 g of amaretti, 4 eggs, 100 ml of white wine, 2-3 pears, one and a half tsp of baking powder, one tsp of bicarbonate of soda. Icing sugar to decorate.

Peel the pears and cut them into cubes, boil them in white wine for 10-15 minutes or till soft. Mix flour, sugar, the yolk of the eggs and the melted butter in a bowl. Add the baking powder and the bicarbonate of soda as well. Melt the chocolate in a pan and beat the egg whites till stiff. Add all to the mixture together with the crushed amaretti. Pour half of the mixture in a greased tin and add the pear cubes, finally cover them with the rest of the chocolate mixture. Bake for 45 minutes, 180 °C . When it has cooled dust with icing sugar.

Apple tart with Philadelphia cream cheese

This is what you need.

For the dough: 300 g of flour, 2 eggs, 50 g of melted butter, 70 g of sugar.

For the cream: 350 g of Philadelphia cream cheese, one egg, 50 g of sugar, 2-3 apples, the juice of half a lemon.

For the top: 50 g of sugar, half a tsp of cinnamon.

First prepare the dough mixing all the ingredients in a bowl and kneading it. Let it rest for half an hour in the fridge. In the meantime cut the apples into quarters, peel, core them then cut into slices. Season the slices with the juice of half a lemon. Prepare the cream by whipping together the cream cheese, the egg and the sugar.

Roll out the dough and line a greased tin. Spread the cream on the dough and set the apple slices in rows or in a circle. Finally mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it on top. Bake for half an hour at 180 °C .

Enjoy!