Healthy Chocolate Pear Almond Cake (Vegan, Gluten-free)

Anyone knows what a Pi-day is? Anybody?
I didn’t, until yesterday 14th March! Apparently my feeds was all about pie’s – /pai/. Read on to see what it is about and why a cake recipe is called for! Either way, you’re in for a sweet, gooey, and delicious chocolate and pear almond cake that is gluten-free, vegan and 100% fruit-sweetened. Super decadent, super healthy, and super easy to make!

Name days are so over guys! Besides official holidays and private occasions, we now talk and celebrate food days. Pancake day, pizza day, peanut butter day, popcorn day, and even liquorice day (hooray Dutchies ?) are just a few examples.

If you haven’t noticed, now you do. If you have noticed but don’t know what the heck they are about, here is my advice: Don’t ask, don’t resist, just keep calm and eat that food as much as you want on that particular day. Just kidding!

Though I don’t take them serious, I find the beautiful food creations on these oh-so-often special days very inspiring.

Okay, so here’s the story. There’s an annual Pi-day on March 14th to celebrate the Greek mathematical symbol π (Pi) which starts with first 3 digits of 3-1-4. Hence, the date! However, the food community caught on the pronunciation and twisted it into a “Pie-day”. As a result, this is the chance for us to go wild on any pie we’re craving!

And to help you do that, I’ve got this delightful pastry-less pie recipe (aka a cake ?) just for you. It’s a chocolate cake, a pear cake, and an almond cake, all-in-one! It is so delicious that you wouldn’t believe it’s vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free.

Once baked to perfection, the pear will release a tender sweetness on the inside while caramelising the outside with its intense fruitiness. This then blends with the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the nuttiness of almond to create the ultimate decadency.

As usual, my recipe is a plant-based version, making it suitable for almost everyone. Feel free to substitute these ingredients with those you have on hands.

Prep time is between 15-20 minutes from washing, cutting, chopping to whipping. Preheat your oven half-way will make sure it’s well heated when your cake is ready to go in.

To avoid burning the chocolate topping, bake this bad boy at 180C for 35mins, followed by 15mins at 175C. If necessary, cover the cake with aluminium foil.

It is best served warm with a drizzle of maple, agave or honey if wish. For a more extravagant weekend treat, serve with a dollop whipped coconut cream or a small scoop of favourite ice-cream

HAPPY BELATED PI-DAY!!!

5 from 1 vote

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Vegan Chocolate Pear and Almond Cake – Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Total Time

1 hr 10 mins

 

This is a decadent yet light and healthy Chocolate Pear & Almond Cake. The pear, once baked to perfection, will release its warm sweetness in the soft and tender bits inside the cake and an intense caramelisation in the slices on top of the cake. It is then diffused with the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the nuttiness of almond flour and slivered almond, making it a perfect a decadent yet light mood-warming dessert after dinner or weekend teatime.

Course: Dessert

Keyword: almond, chocolate cake, dairyfree, glutenfree, healthy cakes, healthy desserts, pear, sugargree, vegan cake, vegan desserts

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 196 kcal

Author: H.P.

Ingredients

8-10 slices

• For a springform cake tin with diameter 20-22 cm

Fruit and garnish

• 2-3 Conference pears ~ 400gr, half chopped, half sliced
• 50-75 gr pure dark chocolate chopped
• 15-20 gr slivered almond

Dry ingredients

• 2/3 cup ~ 100gr oat or whole-wheat flour
• 1/3 cup ~ 50gr fine almond flour. If you don’t have it, just use regular flour and 15-20ml less liquid
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp ~ 15gr cacao powder
• Optional zest of ½ orange for a kick in flavour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

Wet ingredients

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar OR lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ~ 300gr banana
• 1/3 cup ~ 50gr liquid sweetener of choice such as maple syrup, agave, honey
• 1 flax egg 1tbsp flaxmeal + 4tbsp water OR regular egg
• 50-75 ml milk of choice I used almond depending on the type of flour you use. Gluten-free flour such as almond absorbs more liquid
• 10 gr coconut oil melted
• 75 gr aquafaba liquid from canned chick-pea OR 2 egg whites
• Optional If you use very dark chocolate, you might want to add 1 tbsp liquid sweetener to the batter

Instructions

Method – 50mins baking

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. If use flax-egg, mix flaxmeal and water in a small cup and let rest for 5mins
3. Wash, core and peel the pears
4. Chop half into chunks and the other half into slices
5. In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients
6. In a blender, blend all wet ingredients including the flax egg.
7. Mix dry into wet ingredients, half at a time
8. Use a spatula to fold in. Adjust liquid/flour if too thick or too runny
9. Add in melted coconut oil, chopped pear and ½ amount of the chocolate bits
10. In another clean bowl, whish aquafaba or egg white until reaching a chopped peak (5-7mins)
11. Fold in the batter 1/3 at a time until it is well incorporated
12. Line the cake tin with baking paper, spray with some oil
13. Pour in the cake batter
14. Arrange pear slices on top to completely cover the surface
15. Sprinkle slivered almond and remaining chocolate bits on top
16. Bake 35mins at 180C then reduce to 175C for another 15mins
17. Let cool for at least 15mins