Prepare to be surprised by my Pear Surprise recipe, another one of my experiments in the kitchen!

I had some leftover Madeira cake that wasn’t being eaten so I decided to pair it up with some canned pear halves and a whipped cream dessert topping. Similar to a trifle but without all the jelly making and waiting for it to set, this in comparison is far far quicker and easier. I wasn’t sure how much my children would enjoy this Pear Surprise as it was a bit of a mish mash of things but it was so good I’ve since made it again several times at their request! Because there’s no cooking or baking involved it can be thrown together in a matter of minutes, in fact the first day I created this it took me a total of 5 minutes as I didn’t slice the pear halves. The last few times I did make this, I sliced the pear halves as it makes eating the dessert easier, lol!

If you wanted to replace the pear halves with another canned fruit of your choice you easily could although I’m not sure how the flavours would work together; this combination of pear halves, Madeira cake and Butterscotch dessert topping goes down well in my house. You may even want to use whipped double cream with added sugar instead of this particular dessert topping, however that will mean more preparation time. I sprinkled desiccated coconut on top to add a pretty finishing touch, it’s not essential and can be replaced with toasted nuts, chocolate chips or left plain. Try to use a glass bowl where possible as the dessert looks pretty when you can see the layers through the glass. I hope this 5 minute Pear Surprise surprises you also!

You will need:

Madeira cake
1 can of pear halves
1 Butterscotch flavour dessert topping (I used a Tesco brand sachet)
desiccated coconut (optional)

Method:

Start by slicing your Madeira cake and lining the bottom of your bowl with the cake slices.

Take the canned pear halves and slice them as finely as you like, I cut each half into 3 slices.

Layer the pear slices over the cake slices. Next take about 6 – 8 tbsp of the canned pear juice and drizzle over the cake slices; you can also do this before placing the pear slices on top if you want the sponge to be more saturated. Add more juice should you want the sponge to be really moist.

Next prepare the Butterscotch dessert topping following the instructions on the packet. I simply added the contents of the sachet to some milk and whipped till it looked like whipped double cream. Work quickly before the whipped topping sets and spoon over the pear slices, use a spatula to smooth the top. If you want a very thick top use 2 sachets of dessert topping.

Finally sprinkle over some desiccated coconut and chill till it’s time to serve! Enjoy your 5 minute Pear Surprise as an after dinner treat.

Bon Appetit!

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