Pear and Chocolate Brownie

This vegan pear and chocolate brownie is a simple dessert but special enough to grace a festive table, maybe accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You can serve it warm for a really gooey brownie, but it is also good (and still quite gooey) served at room temperature.

The recipe includes both dark chocolate and cocoa for an intense chocolatey flavour. In the pictured cake, I used a chocolate with 54% cocoa solids which has a nice balance of sweetness and cocoa.

The pears should be ripe but not overripe. If, on the other hand, they are really turnip-like, you could steam or bake the peeled halves for a few minutes so that they begin to soften before adding them to the mixture.

The pictured brownie was made with two medium-sized pears and produced eight decent servings, each with a quarter pear. For six large portions, you could use three smaller pears, halved and arranged in the same concentric fashion.

Pear and Chocolate Brownie…

Ingredients

• 75 g dark chocolate
• 30 g vegan margarine (not a low fat variety)
• 100 g brown sugar
• 50 g ground almonds
• 120 g self-raising white/unbleached flour
• 2 level tablespoons cocoa powder
• 210 ml oat (or other non-dairy) milk
• 2 medium pears

Method

1. Set the oven to 180°C/360°F. Lightly oil and line the base of a 10″ flan tin. One with a loose bottom will make it easier to remove the brownie intact.
2. Melt 50g of the chocolate with the margarine gently in the microwave, but don’t let them get hot.
3. Add the melted chocolate mixture and brown sugar to a large bowl and beat until smooth.
4. Fold in the ground almonds followed by two-thirds of the milk.
5. Sift in the flour and cocoa and stir until it is mostly incorporated, then add the remaining milk and finish folding.
6. Roughly chop the remaining 25g of chocolate and set aside.
7. Peel and halve the pears and carefully remove any tough fibrous bits from the centre.
8. Transfer the brownie mixture to the tin and level the top before placing the pear halves, cut side down, onto the mixture. Press them down a bit (perhaps halfway to the bottom).
9. Press the chunks of chocolate lightly into the mixture, all around the pears.
10. Transfer to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The mixture will rise up around the pears, so that they are peeping out of the brownie.
11. This dessert is probably best served warm, but can also be eaten at room temperature. Take care removing slices if the brownie is warm as it will be very soft.

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