You will need: Firebricks/spacer grate
Top heat: approx. 200-220°C
Preheating: approx. 30 minutes
Working time Red wine pears: 20 minutes
Working time chocolate cake: 20 minutes
Baking: approx. 50 minutes

Ingredients:

For the red wine pears:
(for 10 pieces)

• 1 untreated lemon, juice and zest
• 10 small pears (100 g each)
• 100-150 g sugar (depending on the sweetness of the wine)
• 1 l red wine
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp grains of paradise (to taste)

For the chocolate cake:
(for 1 springform pan, 26 cm Ø)

• 200 g soft butter
• 200 g sugar
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar
• 4 eggs (size M), separated
• 250 g wheat flour type 405
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 125 ml stock from the red wine pears
• 100 g dark chocolate shavings

In addition:

• Butter for the mold
• some powdered sugar

For the red wine pears:
Wash the lemon in hot water and peel off the zest in thin strips using a peeler. Then cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Wash and peel the pears.
Slowly caramelize the sugar in a large pan. Add the red wine and bring to the boil once until the caramel has dissolved.
Add the juice and zest of the lemon and the spices. Place the pears in the stock and simmer gently for approx. 15 minutes until the pears are soft but not yet falling apart.
Remove the pears and spices from the stock with a slotted spoon and pour into a sterile preserving jar (2 liters). Bring the stock to the boil again and pour over the pears. (They must be completely covered.) Close the preserving jar tightly and leave the red wine pears to cool, preferably for a day.

For the chocolate cake:
Heat the Merklinger to approx. 200-220°C.

Grease a cake tin. Beat the butter with the sugar and vanilla sugar until fluffy. Stir in the egg yolks well. Mix the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the flour mixture and the red wine stock alternately. Finally, add the grated chocolate and mix well. Beat the egg whites until stiff, carefully fold into the mixture and pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
If necessary, straighten the underside of the pears slightly with a knife.
Remove five red wine pears from the stock, drain and place in the batter. Place the cake tin on the spacer rack on the fireclay bricks in the hot Merklinger.

Bake the chocolate cake for approx. 50 minutes. Use a skewer test to check whether the cake is baked through.

Then remove from the Merklinger and leave to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Remove the chocolate cake with red wine pears from the tin and sift powdered sugar over it before serving.

Tip:
The remaining red wine pears also go wonderfully with game dishes or are a great eye-catcher on cheese platters.
Alternatively, you can enjoy them as a dessert with vanilla sauce, or you can keep them for the next chocolate cake. The pears will keep for at least 2 weeks if well chilled.