Spicy pear and honey cake

Make this comforting spicy pear and honey cake on a rainy autumn day while you sip your coffee and listen to jazz. The process itself will be relaxing and make you feel all warm inside. Or at least that’s what it did for me the other morning when I came home from a cold and rainy walk with the dog.

I had been eyeing the pears at the market (and even the ones on our neighbor’s tree) for the past two weeks looking forward to creating loads of delightful recipes with this ultimate fall fruit. So when I finally got my hands on some, the first thing I did was prepare this coffee cake.

Because half the pears are incorporated as puree into the batter, the natural taste of the fruit really comes out and you don’t need to add much sweetener to it. Although the ginger, cinnamon and cardamom perfectly complement pear, omitting one of these spices if you don’t have it on hand will not take away from the delicious experience. Although it may be a little more tedious to make than a typical one-bowl cake recipe, it is well worth it and still quite simple. Perfect with a piping hot cup of tea or coffee.

Note: I used oat flour instead of the regular kind to make it more wholesome. However, if you prefer, you can use regular all-purpose flour.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oat flour (I like this one best but you can make it yourself by grinding a little over a cup of whole oats in a high-speed blender)
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 4 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped into cubes
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cardamom pods (seeds only)
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 5 tbsps honey
• 100 grams butter, melted
• 2 eggs

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175 C
2. Line an 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper
3. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients (flours, baking powder and salt)
4. In a small pot, place half the pears, spices, one tbsp of honey and 2 tbsp water over low medium heat and let simmer until the fruit is tender and cooked through (around 10 minutes). Place in a small food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside in a bowl. Clean the pot and refill it with the rest of the fruit. Saute the rest of the fruit with a teaspoon of butter for a few minutes and set aside.
5. In another bowl, mix the melted butter and honey with a whisk. Add the pear puree and mix well. Then, whisk the eggs in one at a time until smooth.
6. Carefully fold in this mixture to the dry ingredients without overmixing
7. Pour half the batter into the pan, then sprinkle with half the pear cubes. Pour the rest of the batter and then layer with the remainder of the pears.
8. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until golden on the outside and cooked through. Take the cake out and let cool before cutting into slices and serving.