Saturday 15 August 2015

Chocolate and Pear Torte - Gluten free and so very tasty





























The other weekend as per usual I was clearing out the fruit bowl as I was drawing up my shopping list of what I wanted to purchase for the week ahead. Just a couple of of pears remained still juicy but on the overripe side, my mind flashed back to a wonderful chocolate and pear tart I had eaten several years ago in an amazing trattoria in Tuscany, Italy. It was the sort of place were there was no menu and the choices were what was fresh from the market or the oven.

This torte is inspired by that tart, this one gluten free and a torte not a tart but equally beautiful and also doing a great job using up pears.

Its a simple recipe and is actually diary free if you use vegetable margarine as the chocolate flavour is coming from cocoa not chocolate.

Ideally you need a 23cm loose bottomed cake tin so you can remove the cake easily from its tin.



What you need
  • 150g plain flour gluten free 
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g soft butter or vegetable margarine (I like the Pure range)
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 150g ground almonds
  • 2 eggs - free range
  • 50g Cocoa - I like Green and Blacks Organic
  • 2 tsp Choco inglese essence (optional)
  • 2 Conference pears - peeled, cored and quartered
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Oil spray
What you do
  • Pre heat the oven to 180c
  • Prepare your pears and toss them in the juice of the lemon to prevent them from going brown
  •  Prepare your tin, base line and oil spray so you are ready for the cake mix
  • In a large mixing bowl or ideally a stand mixer, combine all the other ingredients until you have a smooth mixture
  • Turn the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and then artistically place the pear quarters on the top, just slightly pressing them into the mixture
  • Place in the oven and bake for approx 45 - 60 minutes until the torte tests cooked with a cocktail stick.
  • Allow to fully cool in the tin and then remove. Serve as it is or with creme fraiche, cream or Greek yogurt.

The cake will store for a couple of days in a cool place covered with clingfilm or in a cake dome. A very satisfying bake and one that disappeared very quickly.

We are linking this post to Bake of the Week created by Casa Costello and hosted this month over at Jen's Food.

Casa Costello

Credit crunch munch as it uses some past their best pears, created by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours   and hosted this month by Food Glorious Food



No waste food challenge over on Elizabeth's Kitchen

no-waste-food-badge

We Should Cocoa - who's theme this month is anything goes created and hosted this month on Tin and Thyme



14 comments:

Fab Food 4 All said...

This looks so good Linzi! I've never baked with gluten free flour before so really ought to explore this avenue! Thanks for entering #CreditCrunchMunch:-)

Unknown said...

I like this yummy and delicious food, thnaks for sharing....!
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Unknown said...

I'm a big fan of chocolate and pears together, good to see a gluten free version of this classic dessert. Thanks for sharing with #BakeoftheWeek :)

Hello said...

Wow, this is such a beautiful looking cake and it's fab that it's gluten free. Thank you for entering into #creditcrunchmunch x

Riya Singh said...

Your posts are simply fabulous and inspiring . Thanks for the inspiration!
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Helen said...

What a beautiful torte Linzi. As always stunning photos. Thanks for linking up to #creditcrunchmunch

Riya Singh said...

Good post....thanks for sharing.. very useful for me i will bookmark this for my future needs. Thanks.
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Riya Singh said...

Good post! I am also going to write a blog post about this... thanks
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Riya Singh said...

Very nice post, impressive. its quite different from other posts. Thanks for sharing.
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Jean said...

It's nice to see gluten free recipes for cakes that look as stunning and delicious as this, sometimes they can look a bit like the poor relation of another cake! Thanks for the recipe!

Casa Costello said...

Sadly our pear tree has not done very well this year or I would be rushing to make this - I find the arrangement of your pears mesmerising! Thanks loads for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek again - great to have you with us. New round up open tomorrow x

A Green and Rosie Life said...

I absolutely adore pear and chocolate together yet I live in a family where hubby and one son do not. Quelle horreur! #NoFoodWasteChallenge

Choclette said...

I bet that went down quickly Linzi, it sounds delicious indeed. Love the idea of restaurants just cooking whatever they've managed to pick up at market that day - or better still picked from the garden. Thanks for sharing with #WeShouldCocoa.

Elizabeth said...

This sounds heavenly, and I'm intrigued by that chocolate essence! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge!

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