Pear and Chestnut Cake with Salted Caramel
Ingredients
- 230ml unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tbsp (15ml) fresh lemon juice, or apple cider vinegar
- 200g pouch merchant gourmet chestnut puree
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 230g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- pinch of salt
- 2 small ripe pears
- for the salted caramel
- 200ml full fat coconut milk
- 80g sugar
- 1-2 tsp salt, to taste
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan) and grease and line an 8×11 inch cake tin
Pour out the milk into a small measuring jug and add the lemon juice
Stir once and set aside for 10-15 minutes to curdle
Put the chestnut puree into a large mixing bowl, add the oil and whisk until smooth and creamy
Add the sugar and vanilla and whisk again until fully combined
In a separate bowl sieve together the dry ingredients, then add to the chestnut puree mix and stir
Add the milk and whisk for 2-3 minutes or until the cake batter is smooth and fully combined
Pour into the cake tin
Peel the pears, and cut into thin slices, then arrange on the top of the cake
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
To make the caramel, place the coconut milk and sugar into a saucepan, stir to combine and bring to a gentle boil
Boil for 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently until it’s reached a thick caramel consistency
Stir in the salt, to taste, and set aside
Once the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool
Pour over the caramel and serve