Gargouillau, a French pear cake

This is a lovely dessert or a cake from the small Department of Creuse in middle France. My French friend gave me the recipe and it's become a favourite.
It's suitable for freezing, so I usually pop half into the freezer, already cut in portions, for another day.

150g butter, at room temperature

150g caster sugar

pinch salt

grated rind ½ lemon

2 large eggs

350g plain flour, sifted

2 tspn heaped baking powder

8 tbsn milk

600g firm and juicy pears
50g butter, at room temperature

Pre-heat oven to 200ºC/gas 6.  Lightly butter a 25cm Springform and line the bottom with greaseproof paper, also lightly buttered on upper side.

Cream the butter. Add the sugar, salt and grated lemon rind little by little beating all the time until the sugar has dissolved. Beat the eggs in one by one each time with a spoonful of flour to prevent curdling. Fold in the rest of the flour, baking powder and 6 tablespoons of the milk. The mix should fall heavily from the spoon. Stir in the rest of the milk, adding a little more if needed.

Peel the pears, cut in half lengthwise, remove the core with a teaspoon, and cut crosswise into 1cm thick slices.

Spread a quarter of the cake mix over the bottom of the tin and top this with a layer of one-third of the pear slices pressing them lightly into the cake batter. Continue filling the tin in this way ending with a layer of cake mix. Dot with the 50gm extra butter.

Bake in the lower shelf of the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack.

Serve freshly baked as a dessert dredged with sugar or sugar and cinnamon, or as a cake with lightly sweetened whipped cream.