I don’t know what it is around this time of year but my usually sweet tooth seems to go in to over drive. It may be the drop in temperature or the fact that the nights are closing in that I fancy something warm, sweet and comfy after a hard days work. Also ever since the egg less cupcakes post I’m also ever so slightly obsessed with finding yummy recipes that are vegan!   So here’s one recipe that I think hits the spot, even if I do say that I’m not usually a fan of cooked fruit, this recipe is still so yummy!   Try them with some ice cream or warm custard … just divine.  Also if you have left over caramel sauce, it can be stored and kept for up to a month… with a quick zap in the microwave  or heated on the hob it’s great to drizzle over ice cream or fruit.  I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, and a little daunting..but trust me these are so easy… you don’t even need to worry about getting a smooth batter.

This recipe makes 4 cakes.

Ingredients :

For the Caramel Sauce:

• 250ml unsweetened almond milk
• 150g dark brown sugar
• 2tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Pear Cakes:

• 4 small ripe pears
• Lemon juice ( just enough to rub over the pears)
• 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar
• 150ml unsweetened almond milk
• 100g white spelt flour
• 75g ground almonds
• 1/3 tsp of baking powder
• 1/3 tsp sea salt
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 50ml coconut oil  – I used biona cuisine coconut oil – not only because I already had some but because it’s odorless and I don’t care much for the smell of coconut! Keep a lttle extra for greasing the basins.

Method:

For the Caramel Sauce:

1. Add all the ingredients to a pan and slowly bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes over a low heat.  When the mixture has thickened take off the heat, cover and cool.  The sauce will be a dark brown color, if you’re looking for a lighter amber color then use a light brown sugar instead of a dark brown.  When ready to use , warm though gently with a some almond milk if its too thick.

For the Pear Cakes:

1. Preheat the oven 180C or gas mark 4 and grease 4125ml pudding basins with a little coconut oil.
2. To help get the cakes out of the pudding basins line the base of the moulds with a cut out circle of baking parchment and lay two 1 cms wide strips of parchment paper across each mould in a cross shape leaving big enough tabs over the sides allowing you to pull the cakes out.
3. Peal and core the pears.  Then rub lemon juice over them and set aside.  If you don’t have a corer, which I don’t, then it’s a little trickier but all you need is sharp knife to cut out the core from the base of the pear.  You can also use a melon baller of you have one, just remember to keep the pears whole.
4. In a bowl sift the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.
5. In a large enough jug whisk together the vinegar, sugar , almond milk and coconut oil.  The coconut oil may start to solidify when you add to the rest of the mixture, to avoid this gentle heat the oil first so its becomes a liquid or if like me you forgot this would happen do what I did and  just pop  the mixture into the microwave and heat for about 10secs to turn it back into a liquid.
6. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and stir in the wet mixture, do not over mix.  Trust me the lumps are fine!
7. Divide the mixture between the pudding basins and gently press a pear into the batter. Bake until golden and risen, for approx 25 mins.
8. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before you try and pull them out by the parchment tabs.  You may need to gently run a blunt knife around the edge of the basin just to ease them out better.
9. These are better eaten shortly after they come out of the oven otherwise they may need a bit of warm up before you devour them,drizzle with the salted caramel sauce and enjoy with a deliciously creamy vanilla ice cream or hot custard. Yum!