Mother’s Day is coming up and now the Spring is finally here (although the recent weather would say otherwise!), I wanted to celebrate by sharing one of my favourite cake recipes to date. Both my Mum and I love the combination of juicy cherries, sweet pears and nutty almonds so it was only right to create something combining these ingredients!
I feel like I’ve just about nailed the texture and flavour of a vegan batter so I’m pleased with how this works along with the fruit and nuts. I find that in some cases, leaving out eggs and instead using dairy-free milk, coconut oil and cider vinegar still creates a light, fluffy sponge – which is what we all want in a cake, right? It also stays fresh and light for a couple of days (depending on the fruit that’s in it) so if there are any slices leftover, they still taste great.
This will be my very first Mother’s Day, so I’m even more excited about it 🙂 Although as with any occasion like Valentine’s Day or Father’s Day, let’s not forget those other 364 days of the year to show your loved ones that you appreciate them – we don’t need marketing to tell us that. My parents live other in North Yorkshire which isn’t too far away but I still wish they lived nearer; there are so many times I wish I could just have a cup of tea and a catch up with my Mum. But we Skype, text and message all the time in between arranging trips – thank god for modern technology hey!
Let’s crack on with the recipe then – feel free to swap the cherries for raspberries or blackberries, or the pear for apple, peach or plum – whatever you have in your kitchen.
Ingredients:
- 150g oat or brown rice flour (I used Indigo Herbs)
- 50g ground almonds
- 75g coconut sugar or stevia (I used Sukrin)
- 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 240ml almond milk (I used Alpro)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (I used Lucy Bee)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 small pears, peeled, cored and chopped
- 75g fresh or frozen cherries
- Flaked almonds, to decorate
Get making!
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease and a line a 20cm loose-bottom cake tin.
- Mix together the flour, ground almonds, sugar/stevia, bicarb and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Whisk together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes to curdle.
- Now whisk in the melted coconut oil, vanilla and almond extract and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix well to combine and form a smooth batter. Fold in the pears and cherries, leaving some to place on top.
- Bake for about 30 minutes until golden and risen. Leave to cool, decorate with flaked almonds, pop out the tin, slice and serve!
