Pear-chocolate chip cake w/whole spelt

Pears and chocolate are happy together. Cake, tea and me are happy too.

Recipe adapted from Giallo Zafferano
time: 20 min preparation + 70 min baking + 30 min cooling

ingredients

• 400 g (1 1/8 lb) pears, pealed, cored and diced and sprayed with little lemon juice
• 350 g (3/4 lb) ricotta OR:

• 200 g (7 oz) almond pulp from making almond milk
• 50 g (3 Tablespoons) butter room temperature
• 100 ml (2/5 cup) almond milk
• 150 g (3/4 cup) sugar
• 3 eggs
• 250 g (1 2/3 cup) regular flour OR:
• 160 g (1 1/3 cup) whole spelt flour
• 100 g (2/3 cup) regular flour
• 8 g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
• 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate, chopped
• zest from 1 medium lemon, grated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

butter for the form, powder sugar for a finish touch

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160C/325F (fan force function). Butter and line with parchment paper your baking form. 
2. Beat almond pulp with butter, almond milk and sugar till fluffy. Add eggs, one at the time. Add flours sifted with baking powder. Blend till just combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in pear and chocolate pieces. 
3. Transfer the batter into a prepared form and then into the hot oven for 70 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the middle, if it comes out dry, the cake is ready.

notes

• delicious; soft with a nice crust, full of pears and dark chocolate pieces;
• not too sweet, tastes like...pears with chocolate;
• lemon zest made everything taste better;
• exciting to use the leftover almond pulp that I used to throw it away;
• I reduced the amount of sugar because I added chocolate;
• I added only half of the baking powder recommended;
• pears don't have to be hard; 
• I used a 50% cocoa good chocolate;
• I baked in a glass 26x17x6 cm (10x7x2 inch) dish.