Gluten Free Recipe: Pear & Almond Cake
Subtle, sweet pear and unctuous almond make this gluten free cake moist, luxurious and incredibly more-ish (Don’t say you weren’t warned…)
It’s a funny thing, having a food blog. People assume that you’re suddenly an expert in all things cooking and baking.
Pssst! I’ve got a little secret for you… I’m really not! Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook and to tinker in the kitchen, trying this and that. Generally, I’m pretty happy with the results…when I’m cooking. Baking is, and always has been, a bit hit and miss. Sure, I can follow a recipe, but the whole science behind it is a bit hazy.
For further proof of this, take a look at one of my first ever posts last year!
‘Come on Colette, what do I want, your autobiography?? Make with the recipe already!’
Wow – a bit grumpy today? I guess you definitely need some of this cake then. The point that I was TRYING to make, before you got all impatient, was that making this gluten free cake barely qualifies as baking. It’s really just dumping a load of ingredients in a bowl, mixing them up and shoving them in the oven.
The results are a bit of a miracle. I claim no (or very little) responsibility. The recipe is inspired by one of Nigella’s (Apple & Almond Cake) and is unbelievably moist and buttery (especially considering the complete lack of butter in the recipe…)
No raising agents make it a dense cake, but it doesn’t feel too heavy, and a big slice can be gobbled down with no effort at all (quite un-befitting of the delicate tea service you see pictured above I’m afraid).
- 3 pears
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 8 eggs
- 325 g ground almonds
- 275 g caster sugar
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs ground cinnamon
- Peel, core and roughly chop the pears
- Put them in a pan with the sugar and lemon juice, and bring to a simmer
- Cover and simmer for 10 minutes
- Leave to cool
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and grease a 10 inch, loose bottomed cake tin, and line with grease proof paper
- Use a food processor to blitz the pears with the eggs, almonds, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice
- Pour into your tin
- Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.
- The cake in the picture is decorated with edible flowers - fun, if you want to make pretty for guests but certainly not needed for the taste!
