Pear Cinnamon Cake – Paleo/GF/Dairy Free

Apples, pears and cinnamon – These three have got to be the most delicious combo in a dessert. Growing up watching my mom create elegant recipes, I now enjoy creating the same familiarity that takes me back to my childhood. Classic, warm and nostalgic are the notes I go for when baking during colder months. Not to mention, my mom drew a lot of inspiration from French cuisine, so tarts and galettes are some of my favourite desserts I grew up eating and loving.

For this recipe here, I worked with the ingredients I could find in my kitchen. I wanted it to be warm and aromatic. I made this just as we transitioned into Spring and it’s suitable for cold, rainy days with a hot drink. Or you could have it as breakfast. That works well too. I wouldn’t mind an occasional cross-seasonal refresher every once in a while. As much as I appreciate and love to eat seasonally, I also find value in listening to my cravings and following through.

I was really happy with how this turned out during my first attempt. I hadn’t used pear sauce before in baking and I now know I will continue to work with it. It’s a convenient and easy way to build flavour. I also like matching pears, apples, cinnamon, and coconuts together. I simply love them together.

Here are the ingredients you’d need for this cake:

• 500 ml pear sauce (organic is best)
• 1 cup almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 4 medium or large free range eggs *room temperature* – I used hormone free, antibiotic free, grass fed eggs for the higher omega 3 content
• 1 teaspoon ceylon cinnamon (you can add more if you’d like)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons Lakanto Monk Fruit sweetener or Erythritol (you can add more if you’d like)
• 1/4 cup cold-press coconut oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (to give depth and bring all the flavours together)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 large green apples
• Unbleached parchment paper (if needed)
• Medium sized springform baking pan

Instructions:

• First step would be to melt your coconut oil on low heat in a saucepan. It will take a couple of minutes. Once done, set the oil aside.
• In a large sized bowl whisk the eggs, powdered sweetener of your choice, cinnamon, and vanilla extract to reach a creamy consistency. A hand mixer is an easier choice here. Then we add the melted coconut oil. The reason why we mix in coconuts last is so the oil reaches a cooler temperature and doesn’t bake the eggs.
• Now add baking soda, salt, and apple cider vinegar and mix well using your hand mixer.
• Now we add out pear sauce and mix well with a spatula. you will notice the batter will get a bit runny. It’s okay – we will be adding coconut flour next and that’ll take away the moisture.
• Now let’s heat up the oven to 350 degrees
• Lay your unbleached baking paper onto the bottom of your pan – If your baking pan is nontoxic and nonstick, then you can skip this step. Otherwise, I would advise you not to skip this step.
• Set your pan aside and let’s continue with our dry ingredients.
• Add your coconut flour a little at a time. You will soon see that the cake batter will become more solid and less runny. Once you completely add your coconut flour, please make sure your batter is mixed well.
• Next step would be mixing your almond flour in. By now you should have a really nice and consistent batter. And it should smell really aromatic and delicious too.
• Pour your cake batter into your baking pan and tap it onto the kitchen counter or your work station a couple of times until all bubbles are gone and you have a consistent spread of your cake batter throughout the pan.
• Last step would be thinly slicing your apples. I don’t mind to have the skin on for extra fiber and antioxidants. When you have your apple sliver, you will decorate your cake batter in any shape you’d like. I did a spiraling or domino effect looking decoration on top of mine.
• Once all done, you can put your cake batter into the centre of the oven, middle shelf, and for about 45-50 mins depending on your oven capacity.
• Once done, you can use a wooden chapstick or toothpick to stick through the cake. If you have any crumbs and wet ingredients attached to your stick, it may need a few more minutes in the oven. Otherwise take your cake out and set aside to cool down.
• You can chill this or serve it warm with a nice cup of tea or coffee. I’d suggest chai tea or a combo of homemade ceylon, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon tea would go super well with this cake, too.

Happy baking everyone. Hope you enjoy this 🙂

Love,
Behnaz