This vegan pear and ginger cake is simple comfort food dressed up as classic patisserie fare.
The texture in the centre is really soft – almost like a fudge doughnut – and it has a creamy, custardy flavour. Both are courtesy of cashew nuts. Despite the doughnut association, this recipe is actually comparatively low in fat, and some of the sweetness comes from the pear.
Just one large pear is required. It’s used to maximum effect by arranging the slices like daisy petals on top. The dough rises between the slices and forms a deep golden crust interspersed with soft baked fruit.
Pear and ginger is such a successful pairing: it’s fresh, sweet and spicy all at once. The amount of ginger used in this recipe is modest, to balance it with the creamy and fruity flavours, but you can easily spice it up with an extra chunk or two. Leave the skin on the pear – most of the nutrients are in or just below the skin and it improves the texture and the look of the finished cake.
vegan pear and ginger cake…
ingredients
- 1 large pear
- 2 chunks of preserved stem ginger (around 1 inch across) plus 2 tbsp of the syrup
- 60 g cashew nuts
- 50 ml maple syrup
- 100 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar (white wine vinegar will do)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 70 ml light olive (or other mild-tasting) oil
- 60 g white sugar
- 200 g white/unbleached self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- optional – icing (confectioner’s) sugar for dusting
method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and lightly oil a 10″ flan dish, or similar sized baking tin (not too deep or it will be tricky to remove the cake).
- Stir the vinegar into the milk, and then stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside.
- Grind the cashew nuts in a processor or grinder until they resemble ground almonds.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the cashew nuts and sugar and mix until evenly combined.
- Add the oil, maple syrup and syrup from the preserved ginger to the milk mixture and stir or whisk to combine.
- At this stage, chop the ginger fairly small (around 2mm across) and slice the pear, leaving the skin on. Quarter it and remove any stringy parts at the very centre. Then slice each quarter into three or four long sections.
- Add the ginger, followed by the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring as you go, until you have a fairly (not completely) smooth cake batter.
- Pour the cake mixture into the dish and level the top. Arrange the pear slices in a circle on top. Press the thin edges just slightly into the dough and leave the thick edges protruding.
- Bake for around half an hour until the cake has puffed up around the pear and the crust is a deep golden brown. The centre will still be soft due to the pear juice.
- You can serve it warm (it will be very soft) or leave it to cool, and firm up a bit. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.
If you would like to receive e-mail alerts when new recipes are published, please see my contact page.
