Fall time is harvest time. Everything is in abundance one last time this season. I believe using what’s seasonal and local is the best way to eat. Vegan chocolate pear cake is a tribute to abundant fall.
This recipe was created for Spar Slovenija
Jump to Recipe
Pears are what fall is all about
As much as I love pears, I never really know how to use them. I do get random ideas and scrolling through Pinterest surely helps a lot. But at the moment I have pears in front of me, there’s not much on my mind. I’d simply have them raw, that’s it.
At least that was the case until this year when I started consciously using more seasonal produce. Fall has never been so abundant as this year for me – it’s November and we’re still picking tomatoes in the garden. We’ve dug out so many potatoes Peter’s grandma is giving them away. I’ve just had the last strawberries of the season and cooked raspberry jam at the end of October – from homegrown raspberries! Putting more conscious thought into creating recipes and meals with seasonal foods has led me to more innovative ways of using pears, too.
At first, I was seeing this chocolate pear cake in the photos of fellow food photographers whose work I admire. I was gathering the courage to make it and photograph it. It felt like such a special dessert deserves lovely photos and nothing less.
This fancy pear and chocolate cake has been on my list for a while and this year it finally found its way into my life. We’re obsessed with it now.
What I love about this cake
Apart from it being fancy and looking good, it’s also super delicious.
-> the cake is soft and moist
-> the depth of taste reminds me of brownies, but the cake is fluffier
-> the pears are soft and juicy and complement chocolate super well
Ingredients for vegan chocolate and pear cake
This cake looks really fancy and I would easily serve it on a very special occasion, but it is in its essence a very simple cake. Here’s what you’ll need:
Flour: I’m using white spelt flour, but you can use all-purpose wheat flour as well. This is why the cake is so soft it’s almost silky.
Baking powder: We’ll need something to make the cake fluffy and I usually use baking powder. Because we’re using cocoa powder that already contains some acid, you’ll be well off using baking soda as well.
Cocoa powder: The darker and higher quality of the cocoa, the better and deeper the taste of the cake will be. Make sure you use dark pure cocoa and not instant cocoa powder for drinks.
Vanilla sugar: This is something we use in Slovenia and I think the whole of Europe, but I’m not sure it’s available in the other parts of the world. If you don’t have vanilla-flavored sugar, use vanilla essence instead. Just make sure you use a few drops and not much more.
Salt: I always add salt to the sweets. In small amounts, it boosts the aromas of the desserts.
Brown sugar: I’m usually using demerara brown sugar and not the one with a ton of molasses. Demerara still has more taste than white processed sugar, but it doesn’t have the heaviness that molasses adds.
Oat milk: My favourite of all time. You can use any other plant milk, too, won’t make much of a difference. Just don’t use flavoured milks like chocolate or vanilla milk.
Coconut oil: Like it or not, this is what makes cakes moist and soft.
Pears: The best for the last. Pears are necessary in this cake, otherwise, it is not vegan chocolate pear cake, is it.
Wanna pin this recipe?
If you’ve already stepped onto that “cake and sweets” festive train, here’s more of it:
-> Vegan Speculaas Cake with Caramel Sauce is going to be a staple over the winter, just try it and you’ll see
-> Vegan Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is a bit fancier but also insanely delicious. I’m drolling over here.
-> Vegan coffee cake would be just what you need for late afternoon tea or coffee break.
-> Rich Vegan Marble Cake is a classic but also deserves all the praise.
Are you recreating any of my recipes? Don’t forget to take a photo and tag me on Instagram @littlekitchenvibes
Vegan Chocolate Pear Cake
Ingredients
- 300 g white spelt flour
- 100 g brown sugar
- pinch salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 pack vanilla sugar or 5 drops vanilla essence
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 400 ml oat milk
- 100 g coconut oil
- 4 pears
Instructions
- Add the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, vanilla sugar, cocoa powder - to a large bowl. Mix well using a whisk to combine all ingredients.
- Melt coconut oil.
- Add melted coconut oil and oat milk to the dry ingredients and mix gently using a whisk. Make sure not to over-mix, but also be careful there are no dry pieces left in the batter.
- Wash your pears.
- Place parchment paper into a long bread pan. You can use clips to keep it in the spot. Just make sure to remove the clips before baking your cake.
- Add a few tablespoons of batter to the pan and spread it out. It should be just enough to create a thin layer of batter on the bottom. Place pears on top of that. They'll fall to the side and move as we add more batter but don't worry, we'll fix them up again later.
- Now start pouring the batter into the pan. Be careful not to pour over the top of the pears. I like to add batter with a spoon or ladle. It takes more time but I can be a lot more precise this way. However you choose to do it, make sure to pour it into the cracks between pears and spread it out evenly.
- Once all the batter is in the pan, adjust the position of the pears so they all look upwards with the stems.
- If you were using clips, remove them before placing your pan in the oven. Bake your cake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 55 minutes.
- Check on your cake while it's baking because the pears might move again. In the first 30 minutes, the cake will rise which might cause the pears to fall to the side. Simply open the oven, carefully adjust their position and close the oven again. The middle of the cake will remain runny for a while so adjusting will not be too hard.
- Once 55 minutes pass, try if the cake is baked by sticking a toothpick into it and pulling it out. If there's batter on the toothpick, you'll have to bake your cake for additional 10 minutes or so. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.
- When the cake is baked, place it on the countertop and leave it in the pan until it cools down. Then take it out and serve. You can sprinkle it with icing sugar if you want.
0 Comments