Vegan chocolate cake with pears, gluten-free

gluten-free | vegan

Recipe by: Johanna from www.glutenfreierezeptwelt.de

Ingredients for the gluten-free vegan chocolate cake

For a springform pan approx. 24 cm in diameter

• 180 g Ruut cassava flour
• 30 g coconut flour
• 20 g cornstarch
• 10 g psyllium husk powder
• 30 g finely ground almonds
• 100 g sugar*
• 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 60 g chopped chocolate
• 90 g coconut oil
• 50 g chocolate**
• 300 ml oat or almond milk
• 4 ripe pears***

Chocolate glaze:

• 70 g chocolate
• 1/2 tsp coconut oil

Baking a vegan chocolate cake with pears

Tip :) Always use a kitchen scale for our recipes and for weighing the flour.

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and the chopped chocolate (60 g).
2. Melt the coconut oil and the chocolate (50 g) in a pan, add the oat or almond milk and mix everything with the dry ingredients. Ideally use a hand mixer for approx. 2 minutes.
3. Pour the batter into a springform pan (approx. 24 cm in diameter) lined with baking paper.
4. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Arrange the quarters in a star shape on the cake with the thin side pointing inwards. Press the pears well into the batter so that they only peek out slightly at the top.
5. Bake the cake in the preheated oven at 180°C, top and bottom heat, for 30 minutes.
6. Let the cake cool and then pour the chocolate glaze over it. To do this, melt the chocolate with the coconut oil over a low heat and drizzle it over the cake. It doesn't need to be completely covered in chocolate.

Tips:

* If you like it a little sweeter, you can also use more sugar. The sweetness also depends on your choice of chocolate.

** We used 70% chocolate. But you can just as well use milk chocolate (if you're not vegan) or, if you prefer it more bitter, 80% or even darker chocolate. The choice is entirely yours. You may then need to adjust the sugar a little.

*** The pears should be really nice and soft and ripe, otherwise they tend to stay hard during baking and don't release enough flavour. It's best to buy them a few days in advance and leave them to ripen at room temperature.

• The coconut oil we used has a light coconut flavour. This works very well in the cake and also adds a slight sweetness. But if you're not so keen on the coconut flavour, you can also use deodorised coconut oil instead, which doesn't taste of coconut.