Peel the pears, cut them in quarters and remove the core. Lay the pieces of pear in a pan, large enough for them not to overlap, and pour in the white Moscato wine. Cook over a lively heat until the liquid evaporates completely and the pears begin to colour slightly. In the meanwhile, break up the chocolate and melt it by stirring it in a bain-marie with 100 g of butter in pieces. When the chocolate has melted completely, remove from the heat and leave to cool. In a bowl, using an electric whisk, beat the remaining butter (kept out of the fridge for about 20 minutes) with 50 g of sugar and the egg yolks (set aside the whites) until smooth and pale. Add the melted chocolate, which needs to have cooled down well, and mix everything together.

Add the flour – sieved together with the baking powder – and stir until it is completely combined. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the chocolate mixture you prepared previously, stirring delicately from bottom to top. Grease a 28 cm round cake tin with butter, dust it with flour and pour in half of the cake mixture from the bowl; level the surface, arrange the pieces of pear on it and then cover with the remaining half. Bake the cake in a preheated oven, at 180 °C, for roughly 40 minutes; try sticking a toothpick in to see whether it’s cooked (not where the pears are), if it comes out dry the cake is ready. Leave it to cool down in the cake tin, then remove it and decorate as you prefer... maybe with a few slices of pear, sprinkled with icing sugar. This cake keeps well for 2-3 days at room temperature.