Gluten-free chocolate and pear cake

 I am a lucky girl. I’ve never been really allergic to food. I can eat whatever I want. If I try eggless, dairy-free or flourless recipes is usually because of the curiosity and need of experimenting and trying new things. Lately one of my friends found out she is gluten intolerant and I felt bad for her. I hate being restricted. I know you can eat delicious things, as there are quite a lot of fantastic gluten-free blogs like Jenn Cuisine, Cannelle et Vanille or Tartelette, but you need to try harder and make more effort.

Here is a recipe that proves that cakes without gluten can be delicious as well. I love a chocolate and pear combination, I already tried it out with this cake and it was a hit. This cake was no different. It was easy to bake and to eat.

Adapted from BBC Good Food
Uses 23-cm spring form

• 85 g gluten-free dark chocolate, chopped
• 85 g butter
• 1 Tbsp rum
• 3 eggs, separated
• 85 g golden caster sugar
• 85g hazelnuts, toasted and ground in a food processor
• 4 very ripe pears, peeled, halved and cored
• icing sugar, for dusting

Line a base of baking form with a parchment paper. Grease the sides of the form with butter.

Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan.

Place chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt it over a pan of boiling water. Remove from the heat, stir in whiskey, then set aside to cool.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar until white and fluffy. Fold in the chocolate and hazelnuts.

In a separate bowl whisk the whites until soft peaks.

Stir it into the chocolate mix in 3 batches.

Pour the mixture into the prepared form.

Arrange pears at the top. Bake for 40 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in it comes out clean).

Let it cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Serve with a cream or ice-cream.

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