Chocolate, Pear And Hazelnut Cake (Vegan)
Chocolate, pear and hazelnut cake – this delicious vegan cake is perfectly Autumnal, with juicy pear, crunchy hazelnuts, indulgent dark chocolate and a hint of cinnamon. It is easy to make and is perfect with a cup of tea on a cold day; or try it warm with custard for dessert!
Servings 10 people
Ingredients
Cake
- 130 g (4 ½ oz) 70% dark chocolate
- 75 g (2 ½ oz) hazelnuts
- 1 large ripe pear
- 190 g (1 + ⅓ + ¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 10 g (1 Tablespoon) cornflour (cornstarch)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
- 120 ml (½ cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 60 g (¼ cup) plain non-dairy yogurt (I use coconut)
- 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil (such as sunflower)
- 60 g (¼ cup) vegan block butter melted
- 140 g (⅔ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm/8in round cake tin that is at least 5cm/2 in deep and line it with baking parchment.
- Roughly chop the hazelnuts, chop the chocolate into chunks and core and dice the pear.
- Sift together the plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, melted vegan butter, oil, sugar, vinegar and vanilla extract until they are very well combined.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until no dry lumps remain but do not over-beat the batter. Gently fold in the pear, hazelnuts and chocolate.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for 50-60 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre (but not into any chocolate or pear!) comes out clean
- Leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes then carefully turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Notes
- As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- For the best results follow the recipe closely and make it exactly as written. Changing any of the ingredients could affect the outcome of the cake.