Poached pear cake – gluten free
This delicious cake with poached pears uses pears, almond flour and coconut yogurt. It’s easy to make and will be a real crowd pleaser!
Gluten free poached pear cake
Every year around the holiday season I go crazy on the poached pears. I love using whole pears and just plopping them into the slowcooker. So easy to make and they are perfect for a lot of different kind of recipes. Some I use in an easy salad, other’s I eat in a Christmas trifle and in this case I add them to my cake batter. If you want you can even add some of the poaching liquid into the batter although that is not a necessity. I actually used ready made pears here as all my previously made poached pears had been consumed already. All finished!
If you still need to make the poached pears make sure to use star anise and a cinnamon stick in the liquid when poaching fruit. That way you already add flavor to the fruit before they go on top of the cake.
How to make the gluten free poached pear cake
For making the cake you need all ingredients to be at room temperature. You need a springform pan or a rectangular tin which I used here. If you do not use a springform make sure to cover the bottom and sides with parchment paper to make it easier to turn out.
What goes into the cake:
- 4 large eggs
- coconut oil or use unsalted butter
- coconut yogurt
- coconut sugar or brown sugar
- vanilla extract
- lemon zest or orange zest
- plantain flour
- arrowroot
- gluten free baking powder
- almond shavings
- almond flour
- pear halves (you will slice them finer but halves work easier then whole pears
For equipment it is easy to use an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, although you can simply mix it all together with a wooden spoon. Keep in mind that you cannot use all purpose flour instead of the almond flour. That will give a totally different effect. You will also need a wire rack and a large bowl.
I will share another recipe soon with a regular flour mixture. But this is the gluten free version. I used some plantain flour in the mix but you could substitute this for the same amount of almond flour. I like adding a bit of plantain as it is really good for your intestines. And while this will never be a healthy cake, it does make it a little bit better.
Gluten free
It’s actually funny that I sometimes think that baking a gluten free cake is easier than a regular cake. For the simple reason that it is easier to vary and easier to mix. You do have to keep the quantities in check and make sure you have something in there that will replace the stickiness of the gluten. Here the arrowroot and the eggs act as binding agents.
Making the cake
Making the poached pear cake is as simple as mixing all the dry ingredients, mixing all the wet ingredients and then combining the two. Line your tin with parchment paper and add the cake batter in. Slice the pears in small strips lengthwise over the pear halves and press the pear slices into the batter. Some of the pears also go into small pieces and into the batter but the majority is placed on top. I like to make one larger cake but you can definitely change that to little cakes if you want.
Once the batter is ready place it in the preheated oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until golden and a wooden skewer comes out clean. Make sure to check if the cake is done as it can vary depending on the size of your tin. And actually also on your oven, as no two ovens are alike.
Once the cake is baked take it out of the oven and let it cool in the tin for about a few minutes. Lift it out using the sides of the paper and place on a cooling rack. Make sure that it cools completely before slicing.
The cake is delicious with a cup of tea or with some vanilla ice cream too. Whipped heavy cream with a bit of sugar is also a delicious addition to the recipe.
Can I replace the coconut yogurt with regular yogurt?
Yes you can. Depending on your diet you can definitely use regular yogurt or even sour cream instead of the coconut. That is definitely a good option.
Can I replace the poached pears?
Of course poaching pears are seasonal pears and not around for the entire year. You can however make this pear cake recipe also with other pears. Or even apples. I do like to poach the pears or the apples before using it in this recipe. For that you use a small saucepan and add the apple halves or pear halves and poach it with cinnamon, star anise and if you want, red wine or white wine.
Glutenvrije stoofpeercake
Equipment
- Baking tin 20 x 30 cm
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 80 ml coconut oil melted and cooled
- 60 ml fresh lemon juice
- 125 gr coconut yogurt
- 300 gr almond flour
- 90 gr arrowroot
- 25 gr plantain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp seasalt
- 200 gr sugar coconut sugar or regular sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 400 gr poached pears cooked
- 1 tbsp almond slivers
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F) and brush a baking tin with some oil. Cover with baking paper.
- Add all the wet ingredients in a large bowl together and whisk through. Stir all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula. Cut a few of the poached pears into small pieces and stir this through the batter. You will need roughly 250 gr for this.
- Add the batter into the tin and cover the top with the pears. Sprinkle the almonds over the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until golden and cooked.
- Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and serve with whipped double cream, ice cream or just a sprinkling of icing sugar.
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
