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Home » Gluten Free Sweet Treats » Cake » Pear & Chocolate Cake (gluten free)

Cake Gluten Free Sweet Treats

Pear & Chocolate Cake (gluten free)

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Chocolate is one of those ingredients which is so versatile as to combine well with pretty much anything else. From sweet to savoury, vanilla to chilli, dairy, meat, nuts, fruit and even veg! I particularly like to pair it with fruit – strawberries, cherries, raspberries, bananas and coconut being among my favourites.

Pears however, take chocolate cake into a new league. Pear and chocolate is a marriage made in heaven, not just because of the compatibility of flavours and contrast of textures, but because the addition of pear to a sponge adds an incredible moistness which helps to make eating the cake a melty, gentle, succulent experience.

Recently, I have had a bit of a thing for pears. I think I got a bit bored with eating apples and seeing some rather delicious-looking pears in a wonderful little independent farm-type shop near where we live, made a switch which seems to have stuck.

The shop is one of my favourites – Macknade Fine Foods – based in Faversham, Kent. It sells a whole range of produce, much of it local, but also has a wonderful range of international gastronomic delights. I have been visiting Macknade for about 20 years and have watched it grow both in size and range. I love the fact that it supports local producers (we have some amazing food produced in Kent) and also that it is such a foodie treasure trove. It has the most amazing selection of British cheeses which you can taste before you buy and the staff have a detailed knowledge of the produce to be able to advise. I always visit when I have plenty of time to browse, and can guarantee that each time, I will discover something new.

Pears in hand, this week some of them have been used in this wonderful cake. Not having made a pear and chocolate cake since going gluten free, I have played around with my ingredients to achieve this one.

Last weekend we also made a visit to another favourite local haunt of mine – Brogdale Farm which houses the national fruit collection. They hold a number of fruit festivals each year, which have been mentioned in previous posts, and have a number of food and craft outlets. There is also a lovely miniature railway which takes you on a trip through their vast orchards. Fruit being their business, they make an amazing selection of juices, pressed from fruit in the national collection. We particularly love the Pear Juice from their Heritage Collection, which has been used in this cake.

When we visited last week, my daughter popped into one of the shops with her purse and reappeared about 10 minutes later with a new recipe book. She proudly showed me ‘Fruit’ by Kathryn Hawkins and announced ‘Mummy I bought this for both of us. I had a look through it and there are some nice recipes which I thought you could make gluten free, because you do that don’t you?’ How sweet is that? My 8 year old daughter is buying cook books for us to share!

Well how could I refuse? We looked through and found an interesting recipe for Chocolate Pear Cake and I set to work de-glutenising it. Actually, I will be honest, I have changed the sponge recipe almost beyond all recognition. I think the only direct comparison left is that it contains chocolate and pear. But I guess that’s what we bloggers do………..

This bake uses coconut palm sugar and maple syrup to sweeten, giving it a natural depth with caramel notes. I have also added a little ground almond for additional texture and flavour. The resulting cake is rich, beautifully moist, perfectly balanced with pear which gives a slightly acidic, fruity bite, and is quite delicious. It is topped with chocolate icing which provides a contrasting, slightly sugary sweetness, and some roasted pistachios which introduce a wonderful nutty crunch against the soft, wetness of the sponge.

The cake needs no accompaniment, although works well with cream or ice-cream if being eaten as a dessert. I imagine it would be pretty amazing with the addition of some sultanas too…….

I am entering my Pear & Chocolate Cake into two challenges this month :

We Should Cocoa, being hosted by Michelle over at Utterly Scrummy Food For Families (on behalf of Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog). June’s theme is Gluten Free. I think I lucked-out a bit there!

And Shop Local (hosted by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary) which encourages us to promote local food producers and celebrate their produce. This cake has been made with locally sourced pear juice from the Brogdale Heritage Collection, and also locally bought pears from the Macknade food store.

Pear & Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

180g gluten free plain flour blend (I used blend A from this post)
40g ground almonds
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon GF baking powder
30g cocoa powder
125g unsalted butter
125g coconut palm sugar (or soft dark or light brown sugar, if you don’t have this)
50g maple syrup
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons pear juice (or apple juice)
500g (unpeeled/uncored weight) fresh ripe pears (peeled, cored & finely chopped)
Icing
90g plain chocolate – broken into pieces
25g unsalted butter
90g icing sugar – sifted
3 tablespoons almond milk (or any other milk)

Roasted chopped pistachios for decoration (optional)

Method

  1. Base-line a 9 inch round cake tin (4 cm/1½ inches deep).
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 160 C/320 F/Gas 3.
  3. Weigh and mix together in a medium bowl the flour, almonds, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cocoa, making sure any lumps are completely broken down. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and maple syrup until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until well combined.
  6. Add the dry ingredients, juice and chopped pear to the mixture and fold until completely combined.
  7. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and smooth the surface so that it is even.
  8. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the cake is ‘set’ and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  9. Leave in the cake tin for 5 to 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  10. To make the icing : Place the chocolate and butter into a small bowl and melt together either over a small pan of simmering water, or in the microwave on 30 second bursts (medium setting) stirring frequently.
  11. Remove from the heat and add the icing sugar and milk. Beat until fully combined, smooth and silky.
  12. Immediately spread onto the cake and sprinkle with chopped pistachios for decoration. Leave to cool.
Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-14 unless otherwise indicated
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18 Comments

This page may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and go on to buy the product recommended, I will get a very small commission. You will not however be charged any more than if you went direct to the site. 

I will only ever recommend products that I actually have in my kitchen or would buy myself. 

Please note that where a recipe contains alcohol, it is NOT suitable for children. Always drink and use alcohol responsibly. For more information, see the Drink Aware website.

Previous Post: « Pistachio ‘Macaroons’ with Rose & Crushed Raspberry Mascarpone Cream
Next Post: Savoury Summer Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Tart – gluten free »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julie McPherson says

    09/07/2017 at 1:17 pm

    Ooh! Your Pear and Chocolate cake looks incredibly delicious, seriously yummy. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor.

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      12/07/2017 at 8:22 pm

      Thanks Julie. It was an amazing combo xx

      Reply
  2. Choclette says

    29/06/2014 at 2:19 pm

    This cake looks utterly delectable Kate and the chocolate topping has my mouth watering. I'm now contemplating what I could make that involves chocolate sauce – what have you done to me??? Pear and chocolate is a lovely combination and I don't use it nearly often enough. So glad the National Collection was saved – would be a tragedy to lose it. Thanks for joining in with WSC.

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      29/06/2014 at 7:27 pm

      Thank you Choclette. There is something very droolable about shiny fresh dripping chocolate icing! And absolutely….. the National Collection is a treasure which can never be replaced if it is lost. It is a wonderful and fascinating place.

      Reply
  3. Michelle Utterlyscrummy Rice says

    29/06/2014 at 8:06 am

    Oh my goodness, that cake looks amazing and I'm sure it tastes even better! Thanks so much for entering We Should Cocoa this month 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      29/06/2014 at 7:21 pm

      Thank you Michelle. And thanks for hosting!

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth says

    29/06/2014 at 7:58 am

    What a beautiful cake! I want to jump into that photo and start eating! Thanks for sharing with Shop Local 🙂

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      29/06/2014 at 7:19 pm

      Thanks Elizabeth. It was a delicious combination and I had to restrain myself not to eat it all before someone else got a look in!

      Reply
  5. Aimee @ WallflowerGirl.co.uk says

    09/06/2014 at 11:47 am

    Your daughter sounds so sweet! Buying a book for you to share, aww 🙂 This cake sounds gorgeous and looks wonderfully rich and flavourful. Mmm!

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      09/06/2014 at 8:01 pm

      Isn't she?! The cake was lovely…… rich but not over-heavy. I will definitely make that one again!

      Reply
  6. The Caked Crusader says

    09/06/2014 at 5:41 am

    Looks amazing – I love pear and chocolate. That chocolate pooling at the base of the cake is drool-inducing!

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      09/06/2014 at 7:59 pm

      Thanks CC…….I agree! I was struggling to control myself from scooping up the pools with my finger…….

      Reply
  7. Baking Addict says

    08/06/2014 at 7:33 pm

    Chocolate and pear is definitely a good combination but an often overlooked one! I do love how your daughter bought you the cookbook and of course how you've adapted it to be gluten free.

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      08/06/2014 at 9:02 pm

      You're right! It is surprising how few chocolate-pear recipes are publicised. Yet it is such a great combo.

      Reply
  8. Alida says

    08/06/2014 at 10:54 am

    Absolutely wonderful this cake! Looks so moist, rich.. I am drooling over it!
    I know so many people with gluten problems now, in fact more and more people seem to have some form of allergy these days. It is vital to be able to bake gluten free ( and I have only recently realized that!). Thank you for sharing this fab cake, you are a great baker!

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      08/06/2014 at 9:00 pm

      Thank you Alida. I am still amazed at how many people are gluten free. But I think the food world is finally getting wise and there are definitely more recipes available.

      Reply
  9. Katie says

    08/06/2014 at 5:21 am

    This looks utterly delicious! I love that your daughter is buying books you can both share and bake from, what a lovely idea. Looks a wonderful moist fudgy texture

    Reply
    • Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

      08/06/2014 at 8:57 pm

      I know…….. It was so sweet of her! And so good to see that she wants to learn how to cook. It is so important, particularly with her being Coeliac. The cake is definitely to be recommended!

      Reply

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Welcome to Gluten Free Alchemist.
I’m Kate – gluten free recipe developer, traveller, photographer, blogger and mum to a Coeliac teenager… living Coeliac life without limits.
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