There are times when I’ll be reading a book, browsing the net or doing some other usual every day task when all of a sudden I’ll get this voice niggling in my head saying ok I’ve got a recipe idea for you… I promise it’s not as crazy as it sounds!

It’s more like I’ll think of an ingredient and then all these other ingredients will come into my mind and I’ll think hmmmm what can I do with that and then BAM a recipe! Sometimes the translation between my brain and the final dish don’t always turn out how I’d imagined but most of the time things turn out GREAT!

Case in point this cake recipe I’m about to share with you. I was reading my book the other day and all I could think about were pears… no idea why but it just kept popping into my head, and then almond flour next and then all these other ingredients until finally I thought I NEED TO MAKE A CAKE!!!

And so I did… and it turned out bloody good! I just had a phone call from Joe at work telling me “I just had some of your cake it was delicious, you should have given me more”…. I WIN! And so does he because luckily I haven’t managed to gobble it all down myself so he’ll have some waiting for him tonight 🙂

Paleo Cinnamon Cardamom Pear Cake

Ingredients:

• 1-2 large pears slightly soft.
• 1.5 cups almond flour.
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted) + more for cooking the pears and greasing the cake pan.
• 2 large pastured eggs separated (at room temperature).
• 1/3 cup raw honey (melted).
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon.
• 1 tsp ground cardamom.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.
• 1/4 tsp baking soda.
• Pinch sea salt.
• Pinch cream of tartar.

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Line a round cake pan (mine was 9 x 1.5in) with parchment paper and grease using a little melted coconut oil. Set aside.

Place a skillet on medium heat and add in about 1 Tbsp coconut oil. Peel your pear(s) and slice into even rounds. Add the sliced pear to the pan and cook on either side for a 1-2 minutes. Remove the pear slices to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.

In a medium-large mixing bowl sift in your almond flour, then add in your cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda and sea salt. Mix together and set aside.

In another bowl, using an electric beater, mix together your egg yolks, raw honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract.

Next take your egg whites and add in a pinch of cream of tartar. Using a whip attachment on your electric beater or stand mixer, whip the egg whites until you get soft peaks.

Now it’s time to put everything together. Add your egg yolk mixture into the bowl with the almond flour and spices and mix together.

Take a spatula and add in 1/3 of your egg white mixture and fold through. Do this another two times until all the egg white mixture is folded through. Remember to be gentle with this part as you want the cake to be soft and airy when it comes out.

Now layer your pear slices onto the bottom of the cake pan. Try to do it so that they overlap each other slightly.

Pour the cake batter on top of the layer of pears and using your spatula, spread the batter evenly over the top. You might think it’s not enough but trust me it will cover it!

Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes* or until a toothpick/fork inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool before flipping the cake over.

ENJOY!

* I’ve noticed that my new oven bakes things very quickly! It doesn’t even require preheating, so I’m still trying to get the hang of it. Check on this cake after 25 minutes just to make sure you don’t over cook it… but of course yours might take a bit longer.