A gal at church brought me a bag of pears from her tree. They were little and I knew would ripen / go soft very fast, so I tried to put them to a use right away. I made this pear cake, which I think the pear and ginger combination is wonderful. It is a gingerbread over my own creation of pear pie filling. The recipe evolved from three different cookbooks, butI know if you saw any of the original recipe(s) you would not know that I used the idea of it in my cake.I prefer my "desserts" to be of meal quality because if I make it I want to eat it and moderation is not something I want to think alot about... I want to enjoy it and I want want to live a very long time so that I can enjoy it many, many times. My standards are: must not be full of sugar or syrups, if oil then a little of a good oil, fiberous yet easy to eat. I can always make a tofu smoothie or drink soymilk to go with any grain and fruit meal to make it high in protein, or have protein at another meal. In this recipe I use spelt. The gingerbread recipe that follows can be used as a muffins or cake to.
DORI SPELT GINGERBREAD
WET MIX:
3/4 C of your favorite wet sweetener (I use sorghum)
3/4 C plus 2 Tbsp soymilk
1/2 C applesauce
2 Tbsp light virgin olive or organic canola oil
1/2 tsp KAL stevia (see my side bar for link to info)
DRY MIX:
2 cups spelt flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp rumford baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp apple pie spice (or good quality cinnamon)
1/2 tsp ginger powder (or try a couple teaspoons minced fresh for a nice flavor boost)
Combine wet and dry separately. Stir wet into dry until just mixed. Pour over pear pie filling in an 9x12 cake pan, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
PEAR "PIE" FILLING
6 cups diced pears
1/4 tsp KAL stevia
1/4 cup applesauce
2 1/2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca
1 Tbsp lemon juice
Combine and place in the bottom of a 9x12 cake pan.
THE LUNCHBOX GETS THE LEFTOVERS -> This is a few seitan strips, veggie broth flavored brown rice with a little red pepper, avjar (balkan salsa of roasted red pepper and eggplant) and the feature dish - pear upside down cake.
BIG MEOW-MIE NEWS . . . .
The babies have their eyes open, check them out.
Kittens with eyes open
17 comments:
The babies look wonderful :)
I managed to get a loaf of spelt bread last week so unless it was imported (the cafe owner couldn't tell me) there must be spelt flour out there somewhere. Will have to find it.
Thanks for the visit. (I use oregano raw in tomato salad, on garlic bread and in pasta salad chopped up very small. A little goes a long way.)
Those kittens are so adorable.
Your Pear Upside Down Cake sounds fantastic. Wish I could eat a piece of it right now!! Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
I don't think I've seen spelt flour either. Is that something you grind yourself or that you can get at Whole Foods? I love pears and gingerbread both so I bet the combination is great.
I want to adopt every single one of those little kittens. They're so cute. Thanks for the bread info (again!). Someday I will get it right. :)
I love your theory on desserts and the pear upside down cake sounds so scrumptious. I can't wait to try it.
I like your theory on desserts. I'm really interested in the gingerbread, but I don't have the pears. What can I do with that?
I think you should pack my lunches from now on! :)
Oh! There is a topic in the family section on V.O. that I think you might be able to help someone with...I mentioned to her to PM you about it but since I am here I thought I would give you the heads up!
:)
I made smoothies last night and this morning. They are on my blog!
why the hell do your seitan strips look exactly like chicken!!!
how did you do that?
looks very good!
MV - I can grind my own spelt flour, but I usually buy it for family easy meals... the stuff I grind from the berry doesn;t have regulated protein content so I do not get reliable results with it for bread baking.
TK - I responded on your blog... the chickens were hatched in my kitchen in this entry. You were even the first one there that day!:
http://thebakehouse.blogspot.com/
2006/07/mcseitan-sandwich-and-
banana-scream.html
Tania: You can make the gingerbread just as in, I think the bakibg time is even the same if you make it like a cake, but if you want it like muffins,thetime would be less.
Yum! Bit of a nip in the air here in the mornings now, probably time for a weekend baking project. I just saw in the grocery flyer that pears are 2 lbs/$1, I should go get some and try this out. I’ve never used spelt flour, but I always read about people using them in their cookies and other baked goods. Our Whole Foods has a big bulk section, I bet I could find some there. I know you use the powdered KAL stevia, but do you think it would be ok to use the KAL liquid? That’s all I’ve been able to find around here. Would that change the measurements?
PS – the kitties look beautiful!
Pears sound really good to me right now. I like how you use stevia and spelt! Once I used stevia in a gluten-free recipe and it didn't quite work out. Cherie
Hi Shannon, I have never used the KAL liquid, so I don't know what the measurements would be with my personal tastes like I do with the extract powder. I always taste the batter before baking and know that it will lose a little of it's sweeteness in the baking process... a little of it. I'll add a bit more stevia after tasting if needed.
Sorry to hear your bummer experience cherie, there are alot of factors involved in baked goods. To be honest I have had plenty of failured myself and now just from experience know what I like. I still get a few duds every once in a while.
I'm with Harmonia, I would like to you pack all of my lunches.
I like your dessert philosophy! If made properly, it makes a perfectly wholesome meal...and a wonderful way to sneak more fruit into your diet!
I don't even like pears but the cake is making me salivate!
I love pears! I really want to try this recipe once the farmers market guy starts selling his pears.
Your philosophy on desserts is just like mine. I do not have a constant stash of them and I eat mine in moderation. I make sure that there is not too much oil or sugar and I use whole wheat flour only. I am on a mission to find healther treats (like the banana oatmeal bites I posted about) that taste like treats but are fruit sweetned and have no oil in them. If you have anything like that I would love the recipe.
Dori, first of all, THANK YOU for your comments on my blog. I haven't been on the computer much the last few days so i wanted to let you know as soon as i could how much i appreciate your note about my friend. *HUGS*
The kitties are adorable. BLESS YOU for taking them in and taking care of them so wonderfully. They are certainly showing signs of feeling the love, it's obvious!
The seitan strips look fabulous. Wow, and next to the rice and red pepper/eggplant mixture. Ohsogood, Dori, ohsogood.
I am just like you in when i want to eat something "dessert-like" i also want it to be healthful, as much as possible, and to make it so that i don't have to be overly concerned about moderation! Exactly how i feel - and need i say (write) that it is very cool for me to get that validation. Love that!
Your pear cake appears so tasty. Gingerbread? WOW!!!
kitties with their eyes open! Best part of todays post.
:)
Teddy
That cake looks and sounds amazing! Dori, you are one incredible woman. :)
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