Choc Almond Upside Down Pear Cake

3 organic eggs

2 cups almond meal

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

200 ml + 1/3 cup coconut cream

3 firm pears, peeled and halved

2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole star anise

1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste

1/2 cup The Wholefood Pantry Coconut Oil

2 cups The Wholefood Pantry Coconut Sugar

1/3 cup The Wholefood Pantry Raw Cacao Powder

2 tbsp Tapioca Flour

Pinch of The Wholefood Pantry Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt

Handful of Almonds, chopped, to serve

1. To make your spiced caramel pears, place 1 cup of coconut sugar and pears in a medium saucepan. Pour over enough water to cover the pears then add your cinnamon sticks, star anise and vanilla bean. Place your saucepan over a high heat and allow to come to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and cover the simmering mixture with a disk of baking paper to help keep your pears submerged while they simmer for the next hour.

2. Once your pears are lovely and soft, remove with a spoon and add them to a bowl. To your syrup mixture add a slurry of tapioca flour and some water (this ensures that there are no lumps being added). Bring syrup back up to a boil. cook for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and allow the sauce to reduce by about 3 quarters. Reduce the heat to medium and carefully add 200ml of coconut cream (this may cause your mixture to bubble up, so keep an eye on it). Allow syrup to cook for a further 5 minutes until your sauce becomes lovely and thick, stir through a pinch of salt then pour into a heatproof bowl and transfer to the fridge to cool until ready to serve.

3. Preheat your oven to 160°C. Grease a round cake pan a line with baking paper. Halve your pears again and arrange cut side down in the prepared tin.

4. Add coconut oil and remaining coconut sugar to a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Add your room temperature eggs and beat these into the mixture too. Mix through almond meal, cacao powder and bicarb soda until combined. Finally, stir through remaining coconut cream then spoon mixture over your pears in the cake tin.

5. Add cake tin to preheated oven and cook for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Once ready, set aside to cool for 30 minutes before turning onto a serving plate.

6. When ready to serve, drizzle over spiced caramel sauce and sprinkle with cut almonds.