Method

• 1.
  Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease base and sides of a 23cm base springform pan and and line base and sides with baking paper.
• 2.
  Place the rice flour, hazelnut meal, tapioca flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ½ tsp fine salt in a large bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine. Set aside.
• 3.
  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and leave it until it starts to brown – you’ll know it’s ready when it stops spitting and bubbling, and has a wonderful, nutty aroma. Strain it through a fine sieve to remove any solids, then leave to cool slightly. Weigh out 235g for use and keep the rest for another recipe.
• 4.
  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla until combined. Whisk in the browned butter, then fold this mixture into the dry ingredients to form a thick, runny batter.
• 5.
  Peel, core and coarsely grate 3 pears, and place them in a sieve over the sink. Gently squeeze out a small amount of liquid – you don’t want the pear completely dry, but you need to remove enough moisture to ensure that the cake isn’t too wet when baked. Fold the grated pear through the batter.
• 6.
  Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Quarter the extra pear and core. Thinly slice into long wedges. Decorate top of cake with extra sliced pears and halved hazelnuts. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• 7.
  Slice and serve with creme fraiche, if you like.