All the spices in this cake give it a lovely Christmassy feel and because it contains no wheat, refined sugar or dairy you can enjoy it without feeling too guilty. The recipe also contains cinnamon and dried ginger both of which contain antioxidants and have been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory effects. Despite containing no refined sugar, this is a sweet dessert as a result of the fructose from the fruit content. The cinnamon however does counter this to some extent by lowering your blood sugar levels and reducing your sensitivity to insulin. Resistance to insulin sensitivity occurs when your body is exposed to too much sugar and fructose and this promotes chronic inflammation throughout your body. Chronic inflammation is one of the most significant contributing factors that speed up your ageing process. This cake does however taste great, contain no grains or dairy and has some delicious spices in it that will counter chronic inflammation and insulin resistance so you can enjoy without worrying too much about ageing.
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Spiced Pear Cake
Preparation: 30 mins
Cooking time: 1hr 15 mins
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Ingredients
3 or 4 medium size pears
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of cloves
3 oranges
350g sweet potato chopped and peeled
3 ripe bananas
150g dates pitted
1 tbs apples cider vinegar
2 tbs coconut oil
6 eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp dried ginger
450g almond flour
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Method
1. Pre-heat your oven to 160°C.
2. Quarter and de-core your pears.
3. Place the zest of one of your oranges in a pan adding the juice from 2 of them along with your cinnamon and cloves.
4. Add your pears to the pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. While the pears are cooking steam your sweet potato until soft.
6. Next mix your banana, dates, vinegar and coconut oil in a food processor.
7. Grate your last orange to produce some zest and squeeze to produce some fresh juice.
8. Add both to your food processor along with your eggs, baking soda and dried ginger. Continue to mix until your mixture is complete liquidated.
9. Add your steamed sweet potato to your mixture in your food processor.
10. Mix until your sweet potato is completely blended.
11. Finally add your almond flour and mix thoroughly.
12. Pour half your mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan greased with coconut oil.
13. Place your spiced pears on top of the mixture ensuring they have been really well drained. Pour the rest of you mixture on top of this.
14. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes and allow to cool for 15 minutes then turn out on a wire rake to cool completely.
