Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake
This recipe is perfect for an autumn or winter day. How lucky are we to have pears in season in autumn/winter?
First time I baked this cake, we finished eating it in less than 24h. That’s how much we liked it! My partner has been begging me to bake it again ever since.
One of my friends cooked a similar recipe, but it was a chocolate cake instead of a gingerbread one.
Pears were selected as Fruit of the Month - thank you so much for voting! Every month I ask my audience on Instagram (follow me here) to choose a fruit and a vegetable of the month. I create two special recipes in their honor. Follow me to get your chance to vote in November.
Why should we eat more pears?
Great source of water-soluble fibre
Good source of vitamin C, copper, vit B2, E and potassium
May help lower cholesterol and tone intestines.
Why should we eat more spices?
Black pepper - stimulates the taste buds, helps in creating more stomach acid, may improve digestion.
Nutmeg - mild sedative, may improve digestion, may protect your liver.
Cloves - has antibacterial properties, used in treatment of joint inflammation, may prevent digestive tract cancers.
Cinnamon - has unique healing abilities, may help the circulatory system, digestion, heal faster from the common cold.
Ground ginger - may alleviate symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, may prevent the symptoms of motions sickness, may treat nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, has powerful anti-inflammatory compounds.
Source:
Murray, M. et al. (2005) The Encyclopaedia of Healing Foods. Croydon: CPI Group.
Here’s my list of recipes that use pears in lovely and creative ways:
Healthy Baked Pears by Jessica Spiro, RD
Pear Zucchini Bread by Not Not Nutritious
Cold Pear Soup by This Healthy Kitchen
Pear Spelt Muffins by Diana Sutac
Pear Salad with Dried Cherries and Candied Walnuts by Minimalist Baker
Let me know if you are going to try my Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake
by tagging me on Instagram - @diana_sutac.
Happy baking!
Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake
10min prep + 40min baking
Instructions:
Turn the oven on to 200C.
Line a 23x13cm loaf tin with baking paper.
In a bowl, mix well all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, all the spices).
In a separate bowl, mix well all the wet ingredients (milk, oil, apple cider vinegar).
Make a well in the bowl with the mixed dry ingredients and add the mixed wet ingredients.
Fold all the ingredients with a spatula, until just mixed. Do not overmix.
Cut the bottom of the pears so they can stand upright.
Put the pears in the lined loaf tin so there is enough space between them for the cake batter.
Use a paper napkin to clean the baking paper and pears from any naughty batter that did not want to get into the bottom of the tin.
Place the cake in the oven and bake it for 40min.
After 40min, take the cake from the oven and test if it is properly baked by inserting a knife or toothpick in it. If it comes out covered in cake, place the cake back in the oven for extra 5-10min.
Ingredients:
(see recommendations below for swaps and advice)
3-4 pears
200gr flour
100g coconut sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon ginger, ground
¼ teaspoon cloves, ground
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ground
Pinch of black pepper, ground
150ml plant based milk
100ml neutral tasting oil
½ tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
A couple of recommendations to adapt the recipe more to your lifestyle, diet and what you have in your pantry:
Use buckwheat flour or any kind of gluten-free flour for a gluten-free version. I prefer buckwheat because the taste is amazing, even though the bakes usually have a darker colour.
Don’t have all the spices? Use what you have. Add extra cinnamon and two pinches of pepper. If you don’t have ground ginger, use freshly grated ginger (1cm piece of ginger is enough) - it’s a gingerbread cake after all! Also, a lot of supermarkets have autumn-y spice blends such as pumpkin spice. If you don’t want to buy separate ingredients, get the spice blend instead.
Use firm pears - if the pears are too soft, they will slide out of the cake. It’s not a major issue unless you’re planning an entire photoshoot to showcase this recipe. The cake will still taste brilliantly.
Use any sweetener you have in your pantry - I feel coconut sugar is perfect for autumn bakes because it has a cinnamon-y aftertaste.
Use any neutral tasting oil you have at hand - I use rapeseed or sunflower oil when baking.
You might need 3-4 pears, depending on the size of your tin.
Assembling the cake takes patience - the pears need to stay upright in the tin and you need to pour the batter between them. Afterwards, I recommend you clean the baking parchment around the batter to make sure it is not going to burn. It’s not a difficult step at all, it just requires a tiny bit of patience - again, speaking from experience.