Pear and Ginger Healthy Yoghurt Cake
Servings: 12
This simple, healthy yoghurt cake is an adaptable basic cake that I know you'll keep coming back to.
Ingredients
- 100 g butter or macadamia nut oil -melted
- 250 g natural, Greek or coconut yoghurt (1½ cups)
- 170 g rice malt syrup or honey (½ cup)
- 3 egg/s
- 1 lemon/s -zest
- 3 tbsp ginger root -finely grated or 2 tsp ground
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 300 g wholemeal spelt flour (2½ cups)
- 1 ripe pear -cored and thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar or rapadura
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 170℃/340℉ (fan-forced). Grease and line a spring form pan/ tin with baking paper. I used a 22cm cake tin.
- In a mixing bowl or food processor, beat the butter, yoghurt, sweetener of your choice, eggs, zest and ginger until well combined.
- Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt and blend again for a few seconds to just combine.
- Now gently fold in the spelt flour and mix until the flour is just combined. The more you mix this, the heavier the cake will become, so less is certainly best.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, top with the pear, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is firm in the middle (a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean).
- Release the springform tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Thermomix
- Melt your butter 90, 1 min, speed 3. Add the yoghurt, sweetener of your choice, eggs, zest and ginger and blend 1 minute, speed 4.
- Add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sea salt mix 5 seconds speed 4.
- Add the spelt flour and mix 5 seconds, lock the lid, on the flour symbol. Scrape down the sides and fold any uncombined flour as much as you can by hand. You really don't want to over process it, less is best.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, top with the pear, sprinkle over the sugar and bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is firm in the middle (a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean).
- Release the springform tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Serve
- This is so yum served with double cream, or creme fraiche.
Store
- In an airtight container for a few days.
- It can also be frozen (also in an airtight container).
Notes
Dairy-free
Replace the butter with macadamia nut oil and the yoghurt with coconut yoghurt. If you need it to be nut-free you can use coconut oil, but it will effect the taste and texture (the cake will toughen as it cools). Another option is olive oil.Fructose friendly
Choose rice malt syrup as your sweetener and replace the pear with berries and omit the sugar on top. Take a look at the flavour combo's below.Gluten-free
I haven't tested this with a gluten-free flour as yet. But this Basic Easy Healthy Cake recipe is my all time favourite gluten-free cake (but not nut-free). Another great gluten and nut-free cake is my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes (this recipe also makes one large cake).White spelt
You can certainly replace the wholemeal spelt with white spelt flour - this will produce a lighter, less dense cake batter.Egg-free
I also haven't tested this but suspect it will work well with chia egg or aquafaba.Another flavour
So for all of these - omit the ginger and pear.- Lemon Yoghurt Cake - double the lemon zest and place very thinly sliced pieces of lemon on top (before baking). This is lovely with the ginger too (your call).
- Orange Yoghurt Cake - add the zest of one orange and place very thinly sliced pieces of orange on top (before baking). This is lovely with poppy seeds sprinkled on top too.
- Raspberry Yoghurt cake - top with fresh or defrosted raspberries.
- Apple Tea Cake - add a tablespoon of cinnamon to the cake batter. Thinly slice one apple and arrange on top. Mix a teaspoon of cinnamon in with the sugar and sprinkle on top.
- Spiced Nectarine Cake - I reduced the ginger to 1 tbsp and added 1 tsp of cinnamon to the batter. Top with a sliced nectarine (I used one large nectarine).