Today I got all fancy-schmancy with this new recipe for Pear Gingerbread Custard Cakes.
I know these may look slightly intimidating, but seriously they are not as hard as they look!
I had this entire platter finished in just about 3 hours.
All the recipes can be made ahead of time so assembly becomes a breeze.
The pear compote can be changed for apples or really any fruit you prefer if pears are not your thing.
I love the flavor profile here, as each one plays off the other.
Gingerbread Cake, Pear-Raisin Compote, Creamy Vanilla Custard and a touch of chocolate!
The little Pear shaped toppers are nothing more than cake pops shaped like pears, dipped in white chocolate and then brushed with spirulina!
Check out the step by step video tutorial on how I made these and I hope you will try them for yourself!
Pear Gingerbread Custard Cakes
I decided to use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for the cake this time, if you do not have that you can substitute cake flour or plain flour in the same quantity
Serves: 8 Individual Cakes
Ingredients
- For the Gingerbread Cake:
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour *see note above 1¾ cup (210g)
- Ligth Brown Sugar ¼ cup (50g)
- Fresh Ginger 1teaspoon *if you do not have fresh ginger add another teaspoon ground ginger
- Ground Ginger 1 Tablespoon
- Nutmeg ¼ teaspoon
- Cloves ¼ teaspoon
- Cinnamon ¼ teaspoon
- Salt ½ teaspoon
- Egg Replacer * I am using The Plant Based Egg by Freely Vegan 2 teaspoons
- Baking Soda 1 ½ teaspoons
- Molasses ½ cup (118ml)
- Unsweetened Applesauce ½ cup (118ml)
- Vegetable or Coconut Oil 6 Tablespoons (90ml)
- Boiling Water ½ cup (118ml)
- For the Pear Compote:
- 3 Medium Bartlett Pears peeled, cored and chopped for about 2½ cups
- Sugar 2 Tablespoons
- Cinnamon 1 teaspoon
- Raisins ½ cup
- White wine, Brandy or Apple Juice ½ cup (118ml)
- Vegan Butter 2 Tablespoons (28g)
- For the Custard:
- Plant Milk *I use soy milk 1¼ cup (296ml)
- Granulated Sugar ¾ cup (150g)
- Agar Powder ¼ teaspoon
- Vegan Cream Cheese 1-8oz Package (226g)
- Vegan Butter 1 Tablespoon
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- ½ Recipe Vegan Ganache
- ½ Recipe Buttercream
- Cinnamon 1 teaspoon
- Nutmeg ½ teaspoon
- Clove ⅛ teaspoon
- Ginger ¼ teaspoon
- Solid Pumpkin ¼ cup
Instructions
- First prepare the gingerbread cake by preheating your oven to 350°F
- Grease & parchment line a 9" X 12" sheet pan
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, spices, salt and egg replacer and whisk to combine well
- In another bowl combine the boiling water, molasses, fresh ginger, oil & applesauce and whisk together
- Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine, do not over whip.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake immediately for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs
- Cool the cake while you prepare the pear compote.
- Soak the raisins in your liquid of choice from the above recipe
- Peel, core and small dice the pears.
- In a heavy bottom saute pan melt 1 Tbs of the vegan butter, add the pears and the sugar & cinnamon and stir while cooking over high heat.
- Once the pears start to caramelize, add the raisins and their soaking liquid and then add the other Tbs of vegan butter.
- Cook until tender
- Prepare the buttercream as per the instructions on that blog post and add the pumpkin & spices at the last stage of mixing.
- Prepare the vegan ganache and set aside until needed
- Next prepare the custard by combining the plant milk, vegan cream cheese, sugar and agar in a heavy bottom sauce pot.
- Cook over medium high heat whisking constantly until smooth and when it comes to a light boil add the vegan butter and vanilla extract.
- Remove from heat and pour into silicon molds (*I am using 3" diameter sphere molds).
- Refrigerate the custards until set.
- Meanwhile cut out the gingerbread cake rounds and use the scraps for the pear shaped cake pop toppers by adding about ¾ cup of pumpkin buttercream and mixing to combine.
- Take about 1 teaspoon of the cake pop mixture and form them into pear shapes.
- Refrigerate to cold, then dip them into melted vegan white chocolate. I made a paste of spirulina and water to color the chocolate pears once they were set.
- A chocolate stem & a tiny oregano leaf for the garnish.
- Once all your components are ready, assemble the desserts as shown in the video.
- The custards should pop right out of the silicone molds if they are set to firm, if they seem too fragile you can freeze them for about a half hour to make it easier.
Notes
Pear Gingerbread Custard Cakes should be kept refrigerated but can stay at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
Hello Miss Gretchen!!
I wanted to thank you for all that you do to promote vegan baking. Your cheesecake recipes have been life changing for us.
I am wanting to start making buttercream but cannot find the hi ratio shortening that you use. Could you please reccommend a comparable substitute?
Thank you.
Hi Gretchen, I have two questions about your vegan Halloween cookies. Will they work without a stand mixer, using an electric hand mixer instead? And I was not really sure, for the chocolate do you make a parchment cone but use plastic piping bags for the base colors? Thanks so much!
yes it will work, but you may find that after adding the flour it is too stiff for your beaters, so you can turn it out and knead the rest by hand. Yes correct to the colors