Pear and Sage Olive Oil Cake
Serves 8 to 12
FOR THE CAKE:
- ⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 green pears, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup xylitol
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 4 eggs, beaten (or vegan egg substitute equivalent)
FOR THE SYRUP:
- ½ cup water
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 4 tablespoons xylitol
MAKE THE CAKE: Grease an 8-inch cake pan (ideally a springform pan) with olive oil.
Heat half the olive oil over medium heat, and add the pears and sage. Saute until the pears are tender and the sage is fragrant, then remove from heat and let cool.
In a food processor fitted with an S blade, pulse the almond flour and orange zest until well combined.
Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the xylitol, baking powder, and lemon juice. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and eggs and mix until combined.
When the mixture is cool, add the pear mixture to the batter and fold in until well combined.
Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan, then put into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 350° F degrees and bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
MAKE THE SYRUP: Gently heat all of the ingredients until the xylitol has dissolved.
Bring to a gentle boil for 5 minutes to allow the rosemary to infuse.
Pierce holes in the cake and pour the syrup over it while still warm.
How much rosemary should we add?
Serving size & calories?
EXCELLENT
Made a Few changes:
Added 10 min in oven
Used erythritol same amounts
Refrigerated to set before serving
Had 2 tbsp Greek yogurt on side to cut sweetness.
I estimate calories at 330 when cit into 8ths
The instructions for the syrup refer to rosemary… How much of it is required as not detailed in the ingredients…
Says it serves 8 – 12. Does not say how much rosemary, but I would not do much at all since sage and rosemary are both very strong.
Going to try it. I’ll comment on how it turns out.
I made this cake and found it too wet, sweet, and oily. I might try it again, halving the oil (and even the xylitol). Also, I needed double the amount of oven time. I also would avoid the syrup (totally unecessary and it certainly doesn’t need to be any more wet).
this recipe printed off all together as one into the cake,Their was no syrup ingredients or syrup instructions.Of course it was wet and wetter with all that overpowering lemon flavour of 3 lemons not one as I now see online.
I did the same, lol! I printed it off so it didn’t show the glaze which led me to assume all 3 lemons went in the cake. With that said I love lemon and after refrigerating it reminded me more of a firm bread pudding and I loved it. The sage added an extra flavor that went perfect with the other ingredients. Since I didn’t see the glaze part of the recipe I didn’t add rosemary which I don’t know if I would have like that anyways. I will be making this one again!
Keep the great recipes coming Dr G!
Made this cake as recipe called for, including the syrup, only adding 1/4 tsp of Flori di Sicilia extra. This extract adds a citrus vanilla scented flavor. I cooked in an 8” springform pan for 45 minutes, covering the top with aluminum foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over browning. I thought the texture resembled more like custard than cake. I tasted this cake while warm and then the next morning after refrigerating overnight. This cake was very good. Loved the fruity citrus flavor and those flavors intensified after refrigeration. Did not think the cake was oily, only that the texture was more like custard. Will definitely make again.
Where do you get the flori DI Sicilia
Just made it and I agree you don’t need the syrup. It’s very moist and sweet already. Definitely will cut down on the xylitol next time. Less sweet will make it perfect. I also had to back it an additional 20 mins. Didn’t burn, just right in a Springform pan.
I made the recipe that was e-mailed out and it does not show the syrup separately and is missing some instructions, consequently, all the syrup ingredients went into the cake. Needless to say, after several hours in the oven, it was burnt on top and still a gooey mess in the middle. Even with triple the amount of lemon juice in the cake, it was still too sweet. I agree with Andrea’s assessment to cut the olive oil & xylitol in half and omit the syrup. I have another suggestion…grease and flour 2 8″ pans and divide the batter into both, this will allow it to cook thoroughly without burning. There is way too much batter for a single 8″ pan. I was pretty frustrated to spend hours of time and quite a bit of expensive ingredients on a failed cake, but I’m willing to give it another shot…it tastes THAT good.
We had that experience as well. I’m on my 2nd hour of baking and hopeful of the end product. I saw several other comments about the instructions and I agree they are pretty vague and incomplete. Rosemary? Lemon Zest?
Agree with Andrea, above. I cut the amount of Xylitol and will need to cut it again. Also needed double the oven time. And why place cake into a cold oven? That likely is why it needed more time.
P.S. This recipe sent via email contained some errors and omissions.
Agree on the email recipe being WAY different. All our ingredients ended up in the batter. We had no idea about the syrup.
Hi All, Thanks for the comments. Didn’t make this yet. I have found that Gundry bakery is challenging. I cannot have eggs, and the egg substitute has SOY now. What I had baked with flax, or other known substitutes all came out delicious, but textures were different. Experimental baking for sure!
I made this cake and had similar issues as noted by others. If someone comes up with a good modification, I would appreciate it if you would send the new recipe in the comments.
Thanks!
Agree, crazy instructions!
I have modified the ingredient list to now say;
2/3 cup olive oil, divided
2 green pears, peeled and diced
2 tbsp sage
2 cups of almond meal
zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup xylitol
2 tspn baking powder
the zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 eggs, beaten
no extra water
no syrup
I followed all the instructions, but cooked it for 45 mins with the last 15 mins covered with foil.
Beautifully moist and delicious with fresh cream or Greek yogurt.
I wish I had read all of these comments before wasting time and money on ingredients yesterday! I will definitely try this amended version. Thank you! I’m very frustrated because I could tell it is going to be good! I submitted a request asking for corrections. But since I most likely will not hear back, thank you for thoughts. Glad I’m not the only one.