This cake has been a lifesaver recently when I've been asked to bring something to share for morning tea and have had very few ingredients to choose from. This is a really simple tea cake and while it might not be fancy it is absolutely delicious!
I have made it with pears, apples and blueberries and each one was sensational. Pears are in season right now though and their flavour really shines in this simple cake.
I'm hoping it freezes well as I will be making another one this week and freezing it to have for afternoon tea on moving day (7 days and counting - aaahhh!)
Easy Pear Tea Cake
1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
2 ts aluminium free baking powder
1/3 cup rice malt syrup
1 egg
125g unsalted butter, melted and cooled*
1 ts vanilla extract
pinch salt
400g just ripe pears, peeled cored and diced
a squeeze of lemon
1 tbs coconut sugar
1 ts cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease and line the base of a 20cm (8 inch) round sping-form cake tin.
Peel, core and dice the pears and squeeze of some lemon juice, tossing to coat the pieces and prevent them from going brown.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add the syrup, egg, butter and vanilla and mix to combine. It will form a dough rather than a batter. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the base of the tin and then scatter over the pears. Scatter the remaining dough over the top of the pears, like a crumble topping.
Combine the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle liberally over the top of the cake.
Bake for approx 40 minutes until it is golden brown, pulling away from the edges and a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing the sides of pan and sliding onto your serving plate. It is very delicate when warm but would be delicious warm for dessert with cream.
*Dairy-free version - use coconut or macadamia oil in place of the melted butter.
Hi Susan, I love cakes of every kind. But I’ve never used pears in a cake recipe before. I’m incredibly excited to try this recipe. What texture were your pears after the recipe is cooked. I’m trying to figure out how ripe or soft the pears I’m looking for should be. Do you have any tips on how to soften up the pears for this recipe if they aren’t soft enough? Thank you for all the advice and this delicious recipe :)
ReplyDeleteHi Seema, the pears are soft but still hold their shape when the cake is cooked. If the pears are very ripe and soft to start with I think they would turn to mush. So choose some that are firm and only just ripe. Hope you enjoy!
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