1. Add water, sugar, food colouring to a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Set over medium heat.

2. Place pears in the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 to 25 minutes, gently turning them periodically to make sure they remain submerged. Your pears should be soft enough to poke a skewer all the way through with ease, but not so soft they lose shape.

3. Remove saucepan from heat and drain the pears. Allow to cool.

1. Preheat your convection oven to 160°C (360°F) or fan forced oven 140°C (280°F). Lightly grease a standard loaf cake tin and line with baking paper, using enough to overlap the edges.

2. Pour all wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

3. In a separate large bowl, sift all dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Make a well in the middle.

4. Slowly pour your wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, gently whisking to combine.

5. Pour the batter into your cake tin and push the poached pears into the batter all the way down in a row, in the centre of your tin, leaving a few centimetres between each pear. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean.

6. Let cool in the tin for 10 minutes before using the excess baking paper as a sling to pull the cake out. Decorate the edges of the cake with drips of melted chocolate and serve.