it behind you and look to the future.....all will be well with cake and a cuppa! Lovely post! Karen I thought your post title was a very subtle play on words (bearing in mind what "apples and pears" means in rhyming slang) - Below Stairs cake?? We are finding that we get lots of less well-known apple varieties in our veg box these days, which is great. You can easily get bored with the 8 or 10 varieties seen in the supermarkets. Gosh I've not heard of that allergy before, how horrid for you and how brilliant that you can now eat all those foods with relish. I remember you waxing lyrical about the Gunby fruit last year, such a shame. Your cake looks quite stunning and a slice would go down very well right now. Dom that cake looks stunning!! I can only dream of having a bundt cake turn out that well... I love how it looks like there's only just enough cake batter to hold the apples and pears in place - partly because you get more delicious fruit per bite, but also because I'm sure it makes it basically a health food... I'm glad you got over your allergy - I can't imagine not being able to eat my favourite foods! I love apples and pears especially when they are baked in cakes like this. I have a little bundt addiction going on and have spent a similar small fortune on various bundt tins.