A perfectly moist gluten-free, dairy-free, heart-healthy pear cake celebrating autumn flavors.
I love autumn in the kitchen. Not only are we inundated with super yummy and seriously healthy cruciferous vegetables of all kinds, we are also gifted with an abundance of fall fruits. And of those pears are my favorites.
Sure, apples are lovely, plums are great and grapes no less. But from a dessert point of view the pear wins every time, in my humble opinion.
A couple of notes about this cake:
As is usually the case with my desserts, I have kept this cake as healthy as possible while still allowing it to be a lovely sweet treat. This means that I use oat flour instead of white wheat flour, use date sugar and maple syrup as my sweeteners (and not too much of it since pears are themselves sweet), and use as little added oil as possible without losing neither texture nor flavor. And the oil is of course extra virgin olive oil. To make up for the low amount of fat I have added a couple of chia eggs. A chia egg is simply chia seeds blended with water. It adds a lovely moistness to the cake and acts as a binding agent as well.
Curious about why I use extra virgin olive oil as my only cooking oil? You can find my thoughts behind that here.
To cap it off, I have added a rich pear cream, or rather two versions of a simple and quick pear-flavored cream: One based on cashew nuts for those not counting calories or worrying about the added fat; and one using rolled oats instead of the nuts. This second version is not only heart healthy but just as flavorful. The main difference between the two is in the texture. The nut based cream has a lovely richness to it while the oats based one feels (and is) leaner. You can control the thickness of both versions by increasing (or decreasing) the amount of milk.
So cozy up by a nice crackling fire and treat yourself to this healthy, comforting gluten-free Autumn Pear Cake.
Gluten-Free Pear Cake With Pear Cream
Equipment
- A silicone bread or cake pan. A metal one works as well. Details in the recipe.
- A blender or an immersion blender,
Ingredients
Ingredients For The Cake:
- 2-4 ripe pears Use four if they are on the small side. You need about 350 grams cored pears.
- A handful whole almonds
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 4 tablespoons date sugar, honey, or sweetener of your choice
- 1 ½ cups oat flour That is 1 ½ cups rolled oats ground to flour in a blender or about 130 grams
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Ingredients For The Pear Cashew Cream:
- About 150 grams peeled and cored fully ripened pears. Weigh after the pears have been peeled and cored. 2 to 4 pears depending on their size.
- About 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
- 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup or sweetener of your choice optional, depends on the ripeness of the pear
- Unsweetened almond milk, if needed This also depends on how ripe your pears are.
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Ingredients For The Oat Cream:
- About 150 grams peeled and cored fully ripened pears. Weigh after the pears have been peeled and cored. 2 to 4 pears depending on their size
- 3/4 to 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sweetener of your choice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 to 3 tablespoons rolled oats
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Turn on the oven and set it to 200º C / 400º F.
- Wash the pears and quarter them lengthwise. Remove the core and chop the pears into chunks.
- Chop the almonds as well. The size is not that important so do what feels right for you – as long as you don't grind them. My preference is chunky bits which add a lovely texture.
- Using a blender or an immersion blender, blend the chia seeds with the water until you get a smooth paste. Transfer to a large-ish bowl and mix in the oil, milk, and date sugar. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, mix the oat flour with the baking powder and the cardamom; then add that to the liquid ingredients. Mix well before adding the chopped pears and the almonds. Stir to mix it well and then pour the batter into a silicone bread or cake pan. If you do not have a silicone bread pan a metal one will work just fine, but you will need to either oil it well or line it with baking paper or you'll risk it sticking to the pan.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a pin or knife inserted comes out clean.
To make the pear cashew cream:
- Soak the cashew nuts in boiling water for at least 20 minutes.
- Dice the peeled and cored pears and add them to a pot along with about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a low boil. Simmer until soft, about 8 – 10 minutes. Set aside to cool in the liquid.
- Using a blender (or an immersion blender), blend the drained nuts with the pears and their cooking liquid, maple syrup, if using, and vanilla until you get a nice creamy texture. Depending on how ripe your pears are you may or may not need to add almond milk. If you prefer a thinner cream simply add a little (more) unsweetened almond milk. Taste and adjust flavors if needed. We all have a different idea of what sweet is so be sure to taste it before serving. Transfer to the fridge until ready to use.
To make the pear oat cream:
- Dice the peeled and cored pears and add them to a pot along with about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a low boil. Simmer until soft, about 8 – 10 minutes. Set aside to cool in the liquid.
- Using a blender (or an immersion blender), blend the pears and their cooking liquid with all the other ingredients until you get a nice creamy texture. If you prefer it thinner simply add a bit more milk (see note below). Taste and adjust flavors if needed. We all have a different idea of what sweet is so be sure to taste it before serving. Transfer to the fridge until ready to use.
- Note: The oat cream will thicken up a little once refrigerated so don't make it too thick to start with.
Enjoy!
