Caramelised Pear, Thyme & Olive Oil One-Bowl Cake
This one-bowl wonder came together in just 25 minutes – no fuss, no fancy kit, just simple ingredients and a whisk. The result? A sticky, moreish olive oil cake with caramelised pears and a thyme-lemon syrup that soaks right in. It bakes beautifully, smells incredible, and is best served warm with a big dollop of yoghurt or crème fraîche. Comforting, easy, and dangerously good.
Serves: 6–8 | Prep Time: 25 mins | Cook Time: 40–45 mins | Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
Ingredients
Cake base:
100ml olive oil
70g caster sugar
70g runny honey
3 medium eggs + 2 yolks
200g ground almonds
100g spelt flour or 80g GF flour
½ tsp baking powder
⅓ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp sea salt
Zest of 1 lemon
100g Greek yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the syrup:
Juice of 3 lemons
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp thyme leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
For the pears:
4 medium ripe pears, peeled, halved + cored
2 tbsp brown sugar
40g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Caramelise the pears:
Set a large saucepan over medium–high heat. Add brown sugar and butter, and allow to melt. Add salt and pears, cut-side down. Pour over the vanilla. Fry for around 4 minutes until golden and caramelised. Add a few thyme leaves and take off the heat.Make the cake base:
In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, sugar, honey, eggs and yolks. Stir in ground almonds, flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt and lemon zest. Mix in the yoghurt and vanilla until smooth.Bake:
Preheat oven to 170°C and line a 9-inch baking tray with baking paper. Pour in the cake batter, top with caramelised pears and any cooking juices. Bake for 40–45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean-ish.Make the syrup:
Mix lemon juice, caster sugar and vanilla in a bowl. In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and fry thyme for 2 minutes until crisp. Stir the thyme into the syrup and pour it over the hot cake.Serve:
Let the syrup soak in and serve warm or at room temp with a dollop of yoghurt or crème fraîche.