Sticky Pear and Ginger Pudding with Toffee Sauce

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a loose-bottomed, 22 cm square cake tin tightly with aluminium foil then line with baking paper.

Sauce: Heat the sugar, butter and cream until the sugar has completely dissolved and the sauce is bubbling. Pour ⅓ of the sauce into the prepared tin and keep the rest to serve with the pudding. 

Peel the pears and cut in half, removing the cores. Place the pears cut side down onto the sauce.

Gingerbread: Sieve the flour, baking soda, ginger and cloves into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl combine the melted butter, sugar, golden syrup, eggs and milk and stir until smooth and amalgamated. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour evenly over the pears and bake 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out just clean. When cooked, cool for about 5 minutes in the tin before inverting onto a plate. Serve warm with the extra toffee sauce and crème fraîche. 

The pudding can be made in advance. Just cool it completely in the tin and warm in a hot oven just before serving.