Gluten Free Chocolate & Pear cake (serves 8)
Ingredients
- 85g butter, plus 1 tbsp to grease cake tin
- 85g golden caster sugar, plus extra for tin
- 3 medium Field Farm eggs separated
- 85g gluten-free dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 4 very ripe peeled, cored & halved pears
- 85g hazelnuts, toasted and ground
- Icing sugar
You will need a 25cm loose-bottomed tin.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180c (gas mark 4). Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 25cm loose-bottomed tin.
- Melt 1 tbsp butter, brush the inside of the tin and line the base with parchment, brushing with butter once more. Spoon in 2 tbsp of caster sugar, swirl around to coat the base and sides, tipping out any excess.
- Break chocolate into pieces, and melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Remove from heat, stir in brandy and leave to cool.
- Once cooled, whisk in egg yolks with sugar in a large bowl until thick and pale; fold into the chocolate adding the hazelnuts.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they reach a soft peak. Stir in a spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mix, carefully fold and repeat for the other two egg whites.
- Spoon into prepared tin and level. Arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down. Bake for 40 minutes until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked.
- Leave to cool in the tin before releasing, then place on a rack to cool properly.
- Dust with icing sugar, and serve up!