Easy chocolate pear cake recipe without flour or butter. The cake's intense chocolate flavor is rounded off by the mild flavor of the pears. Read my tips below learn how to never fail an upside down pear cake.
Gluten free chocolate pear cake
This upside down chocolate pear cake is THE gluten and dairy free chocolate cake that you will want to make over and over again. Why? Because it is so moist and airy compared to other gluten free cakes, which tend to be dry and crumbly.
Note that this is a flourless chocolate cake.The dark chocolate and the eggs give the cake hold while leaving it light and airy.
You'll need the following ingredients:
- A little corn starch instead of flour.
- Dark chocolate to give the cake its rich and intense chocolate flavor.
- Eggs to give it hold while making it extra fluffy.
- Sugar and pear puree to sweeten the cake and make it particularly moist.
- Coconut oil instead of butter to make it dairy free.
- Baking soda and (gluten free) baking powder to help it rise.
How to never fail an upside down chocolate pear cake
- My tip is to grease-line-grease your cake mold. What I mean by that is that you should first grease the cake mold, then line it with parchment paper and then grease it again. Thereby, you make sure that the fruit and the cake won't stick to the cake pan and you'll be able to easily remove it from the mold. Simply draw the outlines of your mold on parchment paper, cut it out and place it into your cake mold after you greased it a first time.
- Always run a knife along the edges before you remove the cake from its tin.
- Flipping the cake is a critical part for an upside down cake. To make it easier, always use a plate to flip the cake upside down.
How to arrange pears for an upside down pear cake
First you'll want to cut the pears into thin slices. I recommend using a large and sharp knife to do so.
Then, arrange them in a circle. The narrow part of the pear should point to the center of the cake mold. Place them relatively close on top of each other. If the stack of pears becomes too high at the center, cut off the top of the upper pears (see picture).
Which pear variety to chose for a chocolate pear cake?
Avoid small and round pears, such as the William's variety and go for long and thin pears, such as the Concorde variety. This allows you to make sure the pears will cover the entire surface of the cake. Concorde pears hold their shape well when cooking at high temperatures, which is why they will always be my first choice.
Which cake mold to chose
Preferably chose a round spring form of 22 or 25 cm. A springform makes it easier to remove the cake from the mold. If you only have regular cake molds at hand, make sure to grease it well and run a knife along the edges before you remove the cake from its tin.
It is always better to chose a cake mold that is smaller than one that is too large to prevent the cake from being too flat.
How to store a chocolate pear cake
Store the chocolate cake in an air-tight cake box in a cold and dark place. Do not store it in the fridge and do not freeze it.
More gluten free cake recipes
The recipe
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Upside Down Chocolate Pear Cake
Ingredients
- 200 g chocolate 70% cocoa content
- 3 eggs
- 100 g brown sugar
- 40 g corn starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder gluten free
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 130 g pear puree (baby food) or apple sauce
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil room temperature
- 1-2 pears depending on the size
- 2 teaspoon cocoan powder optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease a round springform cake pan with a little coconut oil.
- Melt the chocolate over low heat or in the microwave (30 seconds at a time at 650W). Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar. Add the corn starch, baking powder and baking soda and combine.
- Finally, add the pear puree, the coconut oil and the melted chocolate. Combine.
- Wash the pears and cut them in thin slices. Place the pears in a circle at the bottom of the springform. Cover with cake batter. Gently tap the springform on the countertop to spread out the cake batter evenly.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
- Let cool completely. Then, open the springform. Place a plate onto the cake and flip it. Sprinkle with cocoa powder to obtain a shaded effect.
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