Chocolate, pear, walnut cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 120g walnuts
• 6 eggs, separated
• 170g caster sugar
• 215g dark chocolate
• 2½ tsp instant coffee
• 50ml hot water

Filling

• 20g caster sugar - optional
• 40g walnuts
• 380ml double cream
• Tinned or Poached pears

Method

1. If poaching the pears – peel 3-4 pears, cut in half & remove core

2. Place in a pan of water – equal amounts water & brandy or rum + 20-40g sugar depending on your taste

3. Bring to low simmer for ~20 mins – test by inserting a knife in to pears which chould be soft

4. Heat oven to 180°C. Line a 35 x 25cm tin.

5. Roast 120g walnuts for 8 mins. Chop.

6. Increase oven to 200°C.

7. Melt chocolate. Stir coffee dissolved in hot water into it.

8. Beat yolks with sugar until pale and thick. Fold in chocolate.

9. Whisk whites to stiff peaks. Fold in gently.

10. Spread into tin and bake about 20 mins. Cool completely.

11. Make candied walnuts with sugar and 40g walnuts. Cool and chop. Or use plain toasted walnuts

12. Whip cream to soft peaks.

13. Cut cake into 3 rectangles and layer with cream, roasted walnuts and candied walnuts.

14. To poach the pears

Notes

• This cake is already gluten-free, so no flour swap is needed.
• I reduced the cake sugar from 215g to 170g, the topping sugar from 30g to 20g, and the cream sweetener from 2½ tbsp icing sugar to 1 tbsp. The original amounts are from the source.
• With the reduced sugar, expect a slightly less glossy sponge, a slightly more dark chocolate-forward flavour, and a cream filling that tastes a bit less sweet.

How this works (the science)

This is naturally a flourless cake — chocolate, eggs, walnuts and sugar do all the work. Removing flour entirely sidesteps the gluten problem and lets you reduce sugar without the cake collapsing.

• No flour, no gluten — walnuts (120g) are the structural ingredient. Ground/chopped walnuts contribute three things: oils (fat for richness), protein (which sets in the oven for body), and texture (the chunks give bite where flour would normally give crumb). Toasting them first amplifies the flavour and reduces moisture so they don't make the batter wet.
• 6 eggs are the lift AND the structure. With no flour to provide framework, the eggs are doing everything — yolks emulsify the chocolate and fat, whites whipped to stiff peaks provide volume. Six eggs is a lot because they're replacing the structural job flour normally does.
• Stiff peaks here, not soft. Without flour to set the structure, the egg whites need to be stiffer to hold the cake's shape during baking. The chocolate's heaviness would deflate softer peaks.
• Sugar reduced from 215g to 170g (–21%). Possible because dark chocolate already contains its own sugar, and the cake doesn't need extra sweetness for structural reasons (no flour to tenderise). The trade-off is a slightly less glossy crumb and a more bitter chocolate forward flavour — which suits the pear/walnut pairing.
• Coffee (2½ tsp) doesn't taste of coffee — it amplifies chocolate. Caffeine + chocolate compounds share aromatic notes; a small amount of coffee makes chocolate read as deeper and darker without adding sweetness.
• Poached pears are the sweetness counterweight. Pears poached in 20–40g sugar in 1L of liquid means almost no sugar transfers to the fruit. The pears bring natural fructose + moisture + a delicate floral note that softens the bitter chocolate without competing.
• Cream sweetener cut from 2½ tbsp icing sugar to 1 tbsp. Whipped cream needs almost no added sugar if it's paired with sweet fruit (poached pears) and bitter chocolate — your palate registers the contrast as balance, not lack.
• A2 cream (Jersey/Guernsey) if you can find it — gentler on dairy-sensitive guts.

Variations

More photos