Gluten Free Almond Flour Cake with Pears

It seems like everything is Gluten-Free these days.  Why? I'm not sure anyone really knows ... but today I'm bringing you a luscious Gluten Free Almond Flour Cake made with delicious pears. YUM.

I, on the other hand, am decidedly not on the gluten-free ( nor paleo, nor coconut oil, nor bacon-only, nor eat-on-every-other-Tuesday ) bandwagon. I'm over all of the "good health" rain dances.  I just want to eat good food -- and a variety of it!  Preferably raised/grown locally, so that it is fresh and delicious when it gets to my home.

Truthfully, I really wouldn't find life worth living in a world without Organic Rosemary Sourdough Bread and the occasional pasta dish, anyway.  Balance is what I strive for. Balance, plus way too much champagne.  Let's leave it at that for the ranting today and suffice it to say that a gluten free almond flour cake isn't the type of thing I actively search out unless ...

... it is accidentally gluten-free ( and dairy free, and oil-free ).  This matters for all of you gluten-free junkies because I wanted to eat this cake even though I could not care less about its gluten content.  It's sweet, fruity, and rich.  Really rich.  The consistency is closer to a bread pudding than a classic wheat flour based cake, but that's what makes it special.  The texture makes this cake feel decidedly French, even though the original recipe is from USA Pears.

📖 Recipe

Pear and Almond Cake

Accidentally gluten-free, oil-free, and dairy-free, but intentionally delicious.

4.67 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Cake, Dairy Free, Dessert, Gluten Free

Cuisine: American, French

Prep Time: 2 hours hours

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 3 hours hours

Servings: 14 slices

Author: Basil and Bubbly

Ingredients

• 4 ripe but firm USA Pears
• 1 ¾ cups plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 ¼ cups finely ground blanched almond meal
• 8 large eggs
• 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon water
• ½ cup sliced almonds

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch springform pan, and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment.
• Peel and core the pears.
• Chop three of the pears roughly and cook in a covered saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes with the lemon juice and 2 teaspoons of sugar.
• Remove from the heat, and roughly mash the pears in to a puree. Let cool. You will want to end up with 2 cups of mashed pears to add to the cake.
• Put the almond meal and 1 ¾ cups of sugar in a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times for approximately 3 seconds per pulse.
• Add the eggs, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla, and the cooked pears and puree the mixture. Pour into the prepared pan.
• In a small saucepan, heat the honey, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon almond extract, and the water until the mixture bubbles.
• Slice the last remaining pear into ¼" slices and add the slices to the hot honey mixture. Remove from the pan from the heat and toss gently to coat.
• Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top of the cake. Top with the sliced pears and spoon any remaining honey sauce over the top of the cake.
• Bake for 1 hour or until the cake is browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then run the dull side of a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake, remove the sides of the pan, and serve.

Tried this recipe?Mention @basilandbubbly or tag #basilandbubbly!