Flourless chocolate & pear cake

Recipe uploaded by

Barney Desmazery

14 ratings

Recipe by Barney Desmazery

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1. Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 25cm loose-bottomed tin. Melt 1 tbsp butter and brush the inside of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Spoon in 2 tbsp caster sugar, swirl it around to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.
2. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, remove from the heat, stir in the brandy and leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick; fold into the chocolate with the hazelnuts.
3. In a separate bowl, with a clean whisk, beat the whites until they reach a soft peak (try not to whisk them too stiffly or you'll have trouble folding them in). Stir a spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mix, then carefully fold in the rest of them in 2 additions. Spoon into the prepared tin. Level, then arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down. Bake for 40 mins until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked all the way through. Leave to cool in the tin slightly before releasing it, then place on a rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve with crème fraîche.

PER SERVING

334 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 28g, fat 23 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 0g, salt 0.28 g

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• Becky

  05 February 2009

  Becky rated this recipe

  

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• sweety

  14 February 2009

  sweety commented on this recipe

  I loved this! I made four little ones instead of one big cake and it worked beautifully. But I have to admit I ate all of them (they were so good and yummy and lovely and ..and..), not at once ofcourse, and I made new ones for dessert.

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• hayfaa

  26 February 2009

  hayfaa rated and commented on this recipe

  

  very nice indeed! :-) a magic cake without flour!

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• sweety

  28 February 2009

  sweety rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I tried this recipe and it was really yummy!! I made little ones instead of one big one and everyone liked it very much. I'll make this one for a friend as a thank you-gift.

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• Lina

  30 July 2009

  Lina rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Superb cake, an absolute staple in my collection of receipies. Also works really well if you leave out the pears (I adjust the quantaties by an extra 1/3) and make up some rasberry coulis to drizzle over...

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• mmmmmmmmlekker

  02 August 2009

  mmmmmmmmlekker rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I made this in small ramequins and they turned out great!! It's one of my favorite desserts and so easy to make and so light and incredibly tasty!! A big time favourite in my house!

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• Laura

  28 October 2009

  Laura commented on this recipe

  Hi, I want to make this as a birthday cake. Would it be possible to leave off the pears and decorate with chocolate cream and icing etc. I saw Lina's comment and was going to try that! Do you think it would works? Laura

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Ingredients

• 85g butter , plus 1 tbsp extra for tin
• 85g golden caster sugar , plus extra for tin
• 85g dark chocolate , broken into pieces
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 3 eggs , separated
• 85g hazelnuts , toasted and ground in a food processor
• 4 very ripe pears , peeled, halved and cored
• icing sugar , for dusting

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 20 mins

Cook 40 mins

Vegetarian, Gluten-free

Ingredients

• 85g butter , plus 1 tbsp extra for tin
• 85g golden caster sugar , plus extra for tin
• 85g dark chocolate , broken into pieces
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 3 eggs , separated
• 85g hazelnuts , toasted and ground in a food processor
• 4 very ripe pears , peeled, halved and cored
• icing sugar , for dusting

PER SERVING

334 kcalories, protein 5g, carbohydrate 28g, fat 23 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 0g, salt 0.28 g

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