This cake is a favourite in our house. The texture and flavour provided by the pear is delicious and the recipe, as always, is a simple one! I hope you get a chance to enjoy this cake. You could always substitute apple or banana for the pear as well if that's what you have on hand x Ash

PEAR AND VANILLA ALMOND CAKE,

Gluten and Grain Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free

Prep time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

2 cups blanched Almond Meal

2 tablespoons Tapioca flour

1 ½ teaspoons of Baking soda

⅛ teaspoon of Sea salt

3 large Anjous or Bartlett Pears, approximately 600g

½ teaspoon Vanilla bean powder

4 free-range Eggs, whisked

¼ cup Coconut yoghurt*

¼ cup pure Maple syrup

METHOD

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and line an 8” springform cake tin with parchment paper and set aside.

Wash and dice pears into cubes. In a small pot on the stove combine pears, vanilla bean powder and water. Simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes or until pears are tender to a fork and fragrant. The pears will release water, do not discard. Set aside to cool. Reserve ½ cup of pear mixture to top your cake.

In a large bowl combine almond meal, tapioca, vanilla bean powder, baking soda sea salt. In a small bowl whisk eggs. Add maple syrup and yogurt to eggs. Mix wet mixture through dry mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

Add cooked, cooled pears and juice folding though batter until just combined.

Pour mix into cake tin and spread the batter evenly. Top with reserved ½ cup of pears. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remover foil and bake for a further 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

*Note: I use coconut yoghurt for a dairy free version of this cake. You could use soy or any yoghurt you'd like if dairy is suitable.