This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and candied ginger pieces, it's super easy to make and is sure to be loved by all.
“The great majority of Americans could reduce their protein intake...the best change would be to lower the daily intake of all proteins, but especially animal-derived proteins.”
I subscribe to the belief that every dessert be of the chocolate variety. If a dessert does not contain chocolate in any of its various, beautiful forms then it shall be categorized as a non-dessert (in my eyes at least). Okay, that might be a bit extreme. I'll just settle with the very biased and unjust assumption that I probably won't enjoy it much. I don't like fruit conspiring with my sweets (save a delicious berry crisp). Flavors other than chocolate? Hard pass. Except coffee, but that's another matter entirely and reserved solely for ice cream and tiramisu.
What I am trying to say is...if you're the type of person who agrees that apple pie, raisin oatmeal cookies, and jam donuts are sorry excuses for a proper dessert (I mean my god, we could be having chocolate silk pie!), then we are one in the same. It's with such like-mindedness that I tell you, as a self-professed, unusually particular sweet-toothed foodie, that this gingerbread cake makes a most exceptional sweet treat. I know, I know... there is no chocolate involved. Such a fact has not been overlooked. However, it does not negate the fact that this cake is so good I want to make it weekly and eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert; to which I fully and proudly admit that I have, yes, in fact done all four this week. And now I'm out of this cake, because I ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert... I must make more.
All that should really be pretty sufficient evidence to convince you that you definitely want to make this cake. Not that I'm trying to force you to make it or anything. It's just so scrummy and perfectly timed for the holidays and I just don't want you to miss out okay?! But, if you need more convincing, I can do that too. To start, it's super easy and incredibly hands off. And what a beauty too, I mean just look at it. It's also foolproof and vegan of course and it involves fruit, so, that equates to it being healthy right? Right. Also, GINGER. Enough said.
Molasses & Pear Gingerbread
This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and candied ginger pieces, it's super easy to make and is sure to be loved by all.
Yield: 8-10 slices
Ingredients
- ½ cup (1 stick) vegan butter
- ½ cup vegan sugar
- ¼ cup agave nectar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup vegan sour cream
- 3 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- 2 pears, cored and sliced into ¼ inch slices
- ¼ cup crystallized ginger, minced
Cooking Directions
- Melt the butter, sugar, agave nectar, and molasses in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted and the sugar mostly dissolved. Remove from heat.
- While the butter melts, whisk together the flour through the nutmeg in large mixing bowl.
- Stir the butter and sugar mixture into the flour mixture until almost combined, then stir in the sour cream and aquafaba until just combined.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 9 inch springform pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan, leveling it out with a little shake and the back of a spatula.
- Slice the pears and arrange them in a pinwheel configuration on top of the batter. Place in the oven and bake for about 40-50 minutes, until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
- Leave in the pan and place on a wire cooling rack to cool, for at least 20 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the minced ginger. Slice into 8-10 pieces and serve. Store in an airtight container.
Information of the Day
Because I know you'll need a retort for the eye-roll inducing, "But I just know you aren't getting enough protein in your vheg-en diet thing!" during the holiday season; here you go: The Washington Post says that too much protein could lead to an early death. Yikes! Not all that great after all, eh? "U.S. and Italian researchers tracked thousands of adults during nearly two decades and found that those who ate a diet high in animal proteins during middle age were four times more likely to die of cancer than contemporaries with low-protein diets — a risk factor, if accurate, comparable to smoking. They also were several times more likely to die of diabetes, researchers said."
