Today, we have a hearty recipe for you. We’ve been enjoying these cakes all throughout the winter. They work equally well as dessert, breakfast, or sometimes even a whole meal. The warm, satisfying flavours have kept us feeling cozy throughout the winter and we continue coming back to these cakes all the way into spring.
Oh spring, we are so excited to welcome it. I know that it hasn’t exactly stepped in yet up North, but it’s coming! Here in Florida it’s warm, very much so. We’ve been frequenting the beach, and although the water is still a bit too chilly for my liking, Paloma runs right in. A brave soul.
Back to the food, my husband fell in love with the cakes and always asks about a new batch while still in the process of finishing a current one. In fact, the whole family loves these round treats, everyone except Paloma. I’m beginning to think that it’s the ginger that bothers her, although she likes all other spices. I’m sure one day she’ll come around.
Lately, we’ve been getting lots of questions regarding substitutes for sprouted oat flour. We use it in many recipes and it tastes heavenly, but the allergy to oats is a concern to many. I’ve been trying to come up with a tasty alternative and finally decided to try sprouted quinoa, the star of vegan and gluten free culinary worlds.
The dough with quinoa and buckwheat did taste a little stronger, a bit more sprouted. But when the flavours of fresh ginger, agave soaked pears, vanilla, and lemon combine and integrate into the crust, the result is just lovely.
And if you want to add a touch of decadence, top the cakes with a perfectly smooth and indulgent macadamia whipped cream and enjoy.
Pear Ginger Cakes
Multigrain Crust
1 cup each sprouted quinoa, buckwheat, and oat flours
2/3 cup maple syrup powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup cocoa butter – gently melted on a double boiler
1/2 cup date paste
2-3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
less than 1/4 cup purified water
We used the same technique to make the quinoa and buckwheat flours as we did for our oat flour here.
In a large bowl, sift together the flours, maple syrup powder, and nutmeg. Add the cocoa butter and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and combine well.
Place the dough on a Teflex sheet, cover with parchment paper, and using a rolling pin, roll evenly to about 1/4″ thickness. Cut out round-shaped cakes about 4 1/2″ in diameter, reform the remaining dough and cut out again until all is used. Dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 115F. Flip and continue to dehydrate on the mesh screen only for another 6 to 8 hours.
Sweet Pear Topping
3-4 Red Bartlet or any other type of pears – thinly sliced
raw agave syrup or other preferred sweetener – enough to cover the pear slices
seeds of 1 vanilla been
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
juice of 1/2 lemon, OR to taste
Combine your sweetener with the seeds of vanilla been, ginger and lemon juice. Pour over pear slices and let soak for an hour.
Assembly
Spread any raw preserve or fruit puree on the cakes. We used our prune-apricot puree. Arrange the pear slices in a spiral on top. Dehydrate for 8 hours or overnight. The cakes hold very well when refrigerated in an air tight container.
Macadamia Whipped Cream
(optional and adapted from The Raw 50)
1 cup macadamia nuts – soaked for 8-10 hours and dehydrated at 115F for 12 hours
1/2 cup water of fresh young Thai coconut
5 pitted dates – soaked for 2 hours and drained
1 tablespoon coconut butter
Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
Sasha says
These looks so lovely. I bet they would go quickly as they just look delish!
Annick Guenette says
Thank you so much! I was waiting for a new post! ;o)
Happy Chef says
Love pears, ginger and the touch of decadence! Actually, I love a lot more than just a touch and with these yummy looking cakes I don’t know if I could control myself. I understand why your husband is asking about the new batch before the old ones are gone. Paloma is going to have some pretty sophisticated taste buds by the time she’s a teen.
Katie says
Gorgeous! Love pear and ginger combo, and all those awesome grains.
Norka says
Have you tries sprouted barley? We use spelt and rye as well simetimes, but barley has a milder, sweeter taste, if you don’t mind wheats, But as I see you try to skip gluten. What about millet sprout flour? It’s is also sweet a bit.
Golubka says
Norka – millet sounds interesting, thank you for the suggestion. I’m not sure if sproutable millet is available. Will definitely check around.
Anonymous says
Can’t wait to try it, those cakes look and sound divine
Linni33 says
Oh my golubka! These just look out of this world, yummm..
Seesteinen Sekamelskaaja says
Hi!
I just found your blog and wanted to say that your recipes sound and look amazing. Very inspiring! :)
Norka says
We have a Hungarian product, sprouted millet flour (http://www.biogreen.hu/) , but I think not all of their products are available abroad yet. I Hope you find something.:)
Sweet Faery says
Yeah, I’d been waiting for this recipe! I love buckwheat and I’ll try to make your flour this weekend… Thank you!
kiki says
dear golubka, i recently become a mom of a little boy.i plan to breastfeed him exclusevly but can’t help to wonder how to introduce new foods so he has a healthy starts once he starts eating solids.i love things your daughter eat but would like to know how you started and what foods you gave to paloma when she started eat solids.i want my boy to be as healthy as her! can you help?
THANKS!
PS i’m not a raw eater but a vegetarian…
Golubka says
Thanks so much for your comments, everyone!
Kiki, how wonderful, congratulations! We started raw food when Paloma was ten months old. Before that we gave her fruits and vegetables steamed in a babycook. At ten months, we started giving her green smoothies and my raw baby breakfast. Once she started solid foods, she’s been eating pretty much everything we eat. She is the tester of most recipes for this blog :) If I knew about raw food earlier, I would’ve probably started her on it earlier. Congrats again!
Elenore (E) says
Hi, this looks simply amazing! I’m gonna make some tasty speltflour asap!
I´m wondering how to put two phothos “together” right next to eachother here on blogger. I tried and tried!
Love to you all<3
Golubka says
Elenore, thanks for your comment! I don’t make the double photo collages in Blogger, I make them in a free photo editing program called Picasa, which you can download off the internet.
Jenné @ Sweet Potato Soul says
Your blog is incredible. I just discovered it this evening on the GLiving website. I am currently on a raw cleanse and I’m enjoying it so much. I love cooking, but the incredibly interesting and exciting preparations of raw food is just as enjoyable. With inspiring blogs like this one, I think it’ll be difficult for me to go back to eating cooked food!
Addicted to Veggies says
This is just lovely! I found you through foodgawker and I’m a new fan! Love what you’re doing here.
~S@AtV
Aaron says
Loved this recipe, and will add it to my “Best macadamia Nut Recipes” blog over at Squidoo! I Used fresh Hawaii macadamia nuts for this recipe. I get mine from http://www.maunakeagold.com. In my opinion, Hawaii produces the best Mac Nuts!