A luscious torte is a great way to use up that big bag of nuts in the cupboard and to make use of the season’s pears
E
ach recipe in my cookbook Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet includes optional whole food ingredients such as rapadura sugar, emmer wheat and flaxseeds to boost nutrients and flavour, while also keeping things adaptable so you can use up what you already have in the cupboards. Writing a plant-based cookbook taught me new ways to save waste, and confirmed my belief that zero-waste cooking is whole food cooking. Aquafaba (the liquid from a tin of chickpeas or other beans), for example, is a powerful emulsifier that can replace eggs, especially when whisked with ground flaxseeds or chia. It’s a brilliant way of turning what we’d usually pour down the sink into cakes with remarkable lift and texture.
When I was writing the dessert chapter of my cookbook, I wanted every recipe to offer new ways of making cakes more nourishing. Here, I use aquafaba with omega-rich flaxseed, and blitz hazelnuts into flour instead of using ground almonds (though I would encourage you to use ground almonds if they are what you have).
Seasonality is core to how I cook, not least because I find it such a joyous and economical approach to home cooking that connects us to the rhythm of the seasons. With pears fresh, plentiful and easy to source locally right now, they’re perfect inspiration for this vegan chocolate torte that’s gooey, flavourful and not too sweet. Cook it a little under, so it has a brownie-like centre and, for best results, serve warm with your favourite yoghurt. You will need a 23cm stoneware flan dish or similar.
