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January. Ah, the month I feel incredibly guilty for eating my face off over the past two years of the global pandemic and attempt to get into a healthy diet and exercise routine. I followed my plan to the letter for approximately two weeks and then fell off the wagon and ordered a pizza. Sigh. Did I mention I haven’t stopped craving dessert?
Well, if you’re anything like me and food is about the only thing sparking some joy these days, I’ve got a recipe that seems indulgent, but uses ingredients you can feel good about eating: Gluten-Free Pear & Pecan Cake.
The original recipe from Wild Wild Whisk provided just the inspiration I needed for a light and delicious treat. I’ve baked with almond flour in the past, and gasp!, I don’t love it. Cakes tend to be too moist (yep, I said it!) and lack structure. I love the flavor of almonds, but I knew I’d need to introduce a more stabilizing factor to mimic the texture of all-purpose flour. Enter: Gluten-free oat flour. Truth be told, I could’ve adjusted the ratio further on this recipe, but cutting the amount of almond flour and subbing in the oat flour was the right call, especially since I added cubed pears to the batter. Since I didn’t have any sliced almonds on hand, I opted to use pecans. I also substituted coconut sugar for granulated sugar. (Because, well, see guilty confession re: eating pizza on week 3 above).
All in all, this was a successful experiment, and it’s one I plan to repeat relatively soon. Try it and enjoy!
Gluten-Free Pear & Pecan Cake
Original recipe from Wild Wild Whisk, adapted by The Rescue Baker
3/4 cup coconut sugar
4 oz. unsalted butter
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/3 cups almond flour (TRB used finely ground almond flour)
1 1/4 cups gluten-free oat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
4 pears – 2 chopped into cubes, 2 cored & sliced
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar for dusting
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a springform pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix almond flour, oat flour, baking powder and sea salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat the butter and coconut sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, and vanilla and almond extracts.
4. Combine wet ingredients with dry. Gently fold in chopped pears and pecans.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Fan out 2 cored and sliced pears on top.
6. Bake for 45 minutes; if top is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes more or until middle of cake is firm and set.
7. Allow cake to completely cool before unlocking springform pan. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
8. Cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
(TRB Tip: Freeze 1/2 – wrapped tightly in wax paper, aluminum foil and a plastic bag – to enjoy later this month!)
