• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and line a 9 inch round cake tin with parchment paper.
• Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5-8 minutes until fragrant. Set aside to cool.
  1 cup pecans
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
  ½ cup unsalted butter, ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
• Next beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and continue beating until combined and smooth.
  2 large eggs, ½ cup pure maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Mix in the crushed pears until combined.
  1 can can peeled pears
• Add ½ cup of the pecans to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground - but take care that you don’t blitz them into butter! Roughly chop the remaining pecans.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the finely ground pecans, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently stir in until just combined. Fold in the chopped pecans.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Top with the sliced pear, a few extra chopped pecans and a sprinkle of demerara sugar if desired. Bake for 40-50 minutes - you want a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the loaf to come out clean. If it’s not ready, return to the oven and continue to check in 5 minute intervals. Leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
  1-2 blush pears, 2 tablespoons pecans, 1 tablespoon demerara sugar
• Once cool, if desired, top with chopped pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup or tahini maple glaze. Makes 12 slices.

For the tahini maple glaze

• In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, maple syrup, vanilla extract, icing sugar, milk and salt until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, add extra milk a teaspoonful at a time, but take care not to add too much as we want the glaze to be thick enough to drizzle nicely.
  1 tablespoon tahini, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup icing sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 pinch of salt