You’ll really thank yourself for making this one! This is my favourite low GI recipe so far. Do NOT tell your guests it is healthy, or you will find like I did that they hover around it, turn up their noses, feel slightly uncertain, and eventually try it, and then won’t believe you anyway! You’ll notice it is only sweetened with the pear and chocolate and has no added sugar. This is why it tastes best warmed, as the flavours become stronger and the sweetness of the fruit more apparent. Makes for a wonderful morning tea, and also a great dessert with a spoonful of low GI, low sugar ice cream.
Serves: 12 slices
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup plain (preferably but not essentially) wholegrain flour
- 1/2 cup raw (dried, untoasted) almonds, ground in the food processor
- 1/4 cup semolina
- 1/4 cup rye flour
- 2 pears, skin on, grated in the food processor
- 3/4 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 200g high quality dark chocolate (lindt 85% is perfect. Use fine eating chocolate rather than cooking chocolate, its MUCH yummier.)
- 1/2 a vanilla bean pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla)
- 1 tablespoon liquer – I used liquer tokay
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
- Additional pear, sliced into very thin wedges
Topping:
- Further chocolate – around 50g to melt
- 1/2 cup dessicated or shredded coconut
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
- Grease a round or square 25cm springform cake pan, or a lamington tin
- Place a small heatproof crockery bowl in a frypan half filled with water, so that the water comes half way up the sides of the bowl
- Break up the 200g chocolate and place in the bowl, avoiding any water getting in with the chocolate as it won’t stay smooth
- Put over a low heat and it will melt while you are preparing the mixture
- Sift the flours into a large mixing bowl and stir in the ground almonds and semolina
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, ad milk and continue beating
- Slice the vanilla pod in half and scrape off the seeds with a small fork and add them to the liquid
- Then add oil, liquer, and mix
- Finally stir in the bicarb soda and baking powder (gently so as not to create too much fizz before it is in the oven)
- Combine wet and dry ingredients and add the grated pear, stirring gently
- Stir in 3/4 of the melted chocolate. Leave 1/4 in the bowl over the water so it stays melted and warm. This will form the icing.
- Scoop into the pan and spread out
- Place the additional sliced pear decoratively over the top of the cake
- Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes as cooking time varies between ovens
- When a knife can be inserted and drawn out clean it is ready
- Cool covered with a clean towel on the bench for 10 minutes
- While still slightly warm spread the remaining chocolate over the cake
- Sprinkle with coconut in between the pears
- An optional extra is to serve with icecream and fresh fruit
- MUCH nicer warmed for 30 seconds in the microwave if it is cold
I have to concur that this is one of your most delicious triumphs, Lib
It reminds me of my mum's Denver Chocolate Pudding recipe which was basically a baked chocolate self-saucing pudding made from pure evil (butter, sugar, white flour, squares of chocolate etc.)
Here's one similar:
http://mybakingadventures.com/2009/04/18/denver-c...
Mum stopped making Denver Chocolate Pudding a long time ago (we called it Chocolate Denver in our family) once we all wised up a bit about eating more healthily, but I still lust after it once in a while when it pops into my mind.
This cake tastes very close to it — probably thanks to the rich 85% dark chocolate buds used in it — but is actually low in sugar, white flour, fat, etc …! Unbelievable. Served with low-fat, low-sugar icecream, with the cake warmed in the microwave, it's deeeeeelicious.
I have to concur that this is one of your most delicious triumphs, Lib
It reminds me of my mum's Denver Chocolate Pudding recipe which was basically a baked chocolate self-saucing pudding made from pure evil (butter, sugar, white flour, squares of chocolate etc.)
Here's one similar:
http://mybakingadventures.com/2009/04/18/denver-c...
Mum stopped making Denver Chocolate Pudding a long time ago (we called it Chocolate Denver in our family) once we all wised up a bit about eating more healthily, but I still lust after it once in a while when it pops into my mind.
This cake tastes very close to it — probably thanks to the rich 85% dark chocolate buds used in it — but is actually low in sugar, white flour, fat, etc …! Unbelievable. Served with low-fat, low-sugar icecream, with the cake warmed in the microwave, it's deeeeeelicious.
I made this cake on the weekend and it's fantastic! I'm newly diabetic (well, gestational diabetes, so hopefully not permanent), and have been looking for recipes like this one. My husband loves pears and I love chocolate, so it's a perfect match. I serve it with a dollop of sugar free vanilla ice cream, and it's heaven.
Thanks so much for a great blog, Libby!
Thanks Maureen! This is one of our favourites as a special treat — sooo much better than giving in to the chocolate craving with a store bought cake! I don't have diabetes myself, though my husband does — however we are both eating the same diet – and I don't feel like I'm dieting, but I am seeing the rewards with my waistline!!
Any idea what the breakdown is per serving of this? ie. carbs/proteins etc. or how many starch/fat/fruits one serving uses up? Thanks
Fantastic! Newly diabetic (gestational here too) but also really pleased to find a recipe that uses rye flour, semolina and ground almonds, three things I've had in my cupboard for ages and hardly use!
My cake is maybe not as fudgy as it could be (I'll cook it less next time), and not terribly peary. I used two Winter Nelis which are quite small pears. Which do you normally use? It's still delish, I'm just wondering what to tweak next time!