Pear Cake with a Caramel Sauce
A sweet, moist gluten-free pear cake topped with vegan cashew butter based caramel sauce.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 small bundt cake {8 servings}
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1½ cups gluten-free quick oats
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch
- ¾ cup applesauce
- ¾ cup maple syrup {or agave, coconut nectar, brown rice syrup, etc.}
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp espresso powder {optional, but adds an amazing flavor -- doesn't taste like coffee in this cake}
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- spices: 1½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ⅛ tsp cloves and allspice
- dash of salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 pear, chopped
Caramel Sauce: {*See notes for alternative sauce}
- ½ cup soft dates, pitted {I recommend medjool for smoothest results}
- 2 tbsp cashew butter {or coconut butter/manna for a nut-free version}
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk {I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk}, at room temp
- dash of salt
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp espresso powder {optional. Add more vanilla if omitting}
- 1 tsp carob powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 6-cup bundt pan and set aside {oil as needed or use a good non-stick pan}.
- Place oats and tapioca into a food processor and process into a flour. Add all remaining cake ingredients, except pear, and process until a smooth batter forms. Add the pears and pulse a few times to fold them into the batter.
- Transfer the mixture into the cake pan and smooth out the batter to even it out. Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool cake on a cooling rack. {note: when you have it warm out of the oven it'll seem very moist and spongy, so I recommend letting it cool completely first}.
- While the cake is baking, prepare the caramel sauce by placing all ingredients in a blender and processing until your caramel reaches a desired consistency {add a bit more liquid as needed if you prefer it to be runnier}. Serve the cake warm or chilled, topped with caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Alternative Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
½ cup soft dates, pitted {I recommend medjool for smoothest results}
⅓ cup water or non-dairy milk {use more liquid as needed until you reach the consistency you like}
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
dash of salt
1 tsp carob powder
½ tsp espresso powder {optional}