Pear and ginger cake with ginger glaze

Ginger - guaranteed to cure colds and keep you young. It also protects you from radiation if eaten daily. Apparently. (I wonder if they know that in Fukushima). Yet again, I seemed to have a glut of nearly-rotten pears which I just couldn't bear to throw away, so this recipe which used 2 (or 3, by the time I'd cut out the brown bits) was ideal.

Pear and ginger loaf cake

Pear and Ginger loaf cake

200g butter (unsalted preferable but not essential)
100g soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Half a teaspoon ground ginger
200g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 pears, peeled and chopped
2 balls of stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped

Glaze: 3 tablespoons syrup from the ginger and 3 tablespoons light brown sugar

Heat oven to 160/gas 3. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and vanilla gradually. Fold in the flour and baking powder and then the pears and ginger. Place the mixture in a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 60-70 minutes. Make the glaze by mixing together the syrup and the sugar, adding a half a teaspoon of water. Tip it over the cake and allow it to cool in the tin.

I had run out of self-raising flour so added an extra 3 teaspoons of baking powder to the recipe; and I used only half the amount of sugar - unintentionally - but you wouldn't know.

Talking of gluts, I have a few apples to use up...

... all suggestions gratefully received