Chocolate Loaf Cake with Poached Pears

The top of this chocolate loaf reminds us of a brownie and the inside of the loaf reminds us of a fluffy and moist chocolate cake! A perfect healthy-ish chocolate indulgence for Easter.

Recipe by @fooddesignstudio

Ingredients

• 3 medium to large pears, peeled
• 1 1/2 cups coconut sugar 
• 1/2 cup non dairy butter
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cups Flannerys OWN Cacao Powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups Flannerys OWN Spelt Flour 
• 3/4 cup soy milk

Method

1. Place the three peeled pears in a medium saucepan full of water and place on the stovetop on a high temperature. 
2. When the water is at temperature, drop the heat down to a low – medium simmer and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pears are soft. Remove from the heat and drain well. Set the pears aside as they will need to cool down and completely drain before they go into the cake. 
3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees bake. 
4. To make the cake batter, cream the sugar and butter together with an electric beater on a low setting until whipped and creamy. 
5. Add the salt, vanilla extract, baking soda, baking powder and cacao powder and whip again on low. 
6. Add one egg at a time, whipping in between each egg. 
7. Sift in the flour and whip again. 
8. Add the milk and whip until just blended, being careful not to over beat the mixture. 
9. Pour a third of the batter mixture into a lined loaf tin, add the pears pushing the bottom of the pears down into the base of the loaf tin so they stand upright, pour the remaining mixture around the pears. 
10. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer is removed clean. 

TIP: Use kebab skewers to hold the pears in place for the first 20 mins of the bake, then remove to prevent them from being cooked into the cake as the cake rises very quickly!