One of my favourite flavour combinations is pears and dark chocolate. The sweetness of the pears sits so well with the bitter dark chocolate that they are a match made in heaven.
After how well my Banana Bread Chickpea Flour Muffins turned out I thought that would make a great starting point for a healthified pear and chocolate cake.
Ingredients
2 cups of chickpea flour
4 eggs
8 tbsp. of melted coconut oil
3 tbsp. of almond milk
3 tbsp. of maple syrup
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
2 sliced ripe pears
75g of dark chocolate
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees.
Beat the eggs, maple syrup, almond milk and coconut oil together until light and fluffy. Pour in the cocoa powder, baking soda and chickpea flour and add them to the wet batter. Stir the mixture until well combined. Break up the chocolate into small chunks and add it too the cake batter, mixing it in until it is well distributed.
Pour half of the batter into a prepared 6 inch cake tin. Place the segments of one of the sliced pears and make a circle. Add the remaining batter on top of the pear segments to cover completely. Arrange the second lot of pear segments in the same way.
Bake the cake for 30 minutes and take out of the oven and brush with maple syrup. Return the cake to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes. Once cooked allow the cake to rest on the side before turning out.
The texture of this cake is quite dense rather that a classic sponge cake. Also, it isn’t super sweet either which makes a nice change the use of maple syrup helps this and it lends a lovely subtle caramel flavour.
Since this is made from chickpea flour is an added benefit. Chickpeas release their energy slowly, meaning that you stay fuller for longer. The overarching benefit of this is you only need a small slice so there is plenty left over to stash in the freezer for a rainy day.
I enjoy eating this slightly warm with Greek yoghurt topped with crushed hazelnuts…amazing!
What are your favourite flavour combinations to put into a cake? Do you like experimenting with different fours when baking?
Jemma, this cake looks beautiful. I love the combination pear and chocolate.
I like experimenting with different flours, not only are there flours that are more nutritionally dense than plain flour, but they add different textures and flavours.
That’s so true. It’s amazing how nutritious other flours can be and so many don’t realise this.
looks amazing, im pinning this to make later 🙂
Aww thank you. I hope you like it!
Mmm this looks delish Jemma! And from the ingredients it looks like it wouldn’t be too sweet which is just perfect. I’ve never tried chickpea flour in baking but would be tempted to try it – was there a particular reason for trying it over other kinds?
It’s not too sweet at all. I just like to experiment with different ingredients to get the best nutritional value in my food, even cakes! 🙂
That sounds awesome! and with chickpea flour! That’s so clever!
Thanks Liz! 🙂
good clever combo with the phytoestrogen benefits too, love pear and choc!!!
It’s such a great combo isn’t it!! 🙂
That looks lovely. Can you taste the chickpea flour? I tried using it a few times but I found it gave quite a strong taste and I wasn’t that keen. I have tried a few flours- I find coconut flour really hard to use, but I really love wholegrain spelt flour and peanut flour, so I tend to stick to those as I know they generally work well.
I personally can’t taste it but I know what you mean. I think the chocolate and pear mask it well but you can also make it more sweeter to make sure the chickpea taste is definitely gone.
Wow that looks really good. I guarantee if I tried to recreate that it would be a disaster hehe. I’ve never baked with chickpea flour but I have used it in cooking. Sounds like a very nutritious cake!
It’s a really interesting flour to work with and has the added nutritional benefits!
That looks like a wonderful cake! I am a lemon cake lover, still need to try your lemon cake recipe!
Oh you should so try it!!
This cake looks delicious and I love that it is made with chickpea flour, such a great idea. Yum!
Awww thanks Claire!
WOWzers- please please mail me a slice 😉 I’m usually a plain Jane when it comes to cake (i.e., just the cakey part and frosting does the trick…), but this one just screams deliciousness. Thanks for the recipe!
Your welcome! I think any kind of cake is good, plain or fancy!