This one-bowl gluten-free ginger and pear polenta cake is really easy to make and bursting with flavour. The sweet chunks of pear balance nicely with the cornmeal crumb, fiery ginger and pear drizzle.
Call me lazy, but I love recipes that are easy. This gluten-free ginger and pear polenta cake takes no time at all to whip up – you simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, pour it into the pan and bake!
Minimal washing up afterwards is always a winner to me. I spent most of the summer in the kitchen writing my upcoming Veggie Desserts cookbook and the dishes seemed endless. I had a great time, but seriously…. dishes!
If you’re looking for other gluten free desserts, try my almond and orange pan flour cake, or these lovely gluten free brownies.
Canned pears mean you can have this fresh, fruity homemade cake all year round. Pears bring such lovely moisture and their delicate perfume to a cake, plus, they’re good for you!
How to Make Gluten-free Polenta Cake with Ginger and Pears
This cake is fluffy and crumbly, with big chunks of pears throughout. There is a little ginger for a hit of spicy flavour and I’ve topped it with a pear drizzle. It’s a perfect cake with a cup of tea on a lazy afternoon.
This cake is super quick and easy to make.
1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and beat to combine.
2. Pour into the pan and bake.
3. Make the drizzle by mixing the ingredients into a smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
4. Tuck in and enjoy!
Cook’s Tips:
- If you don’t have polenta, you can use fine cornmeal instead.
- You can use chopped fresh pears, or canned pears in juice.
- The stem ginger in the recipe is the balls/chunks of peeled fresh ginger, candied in syrup.
- Substitute stem ginger for 3 tbsp crystallised ginger (the hard dry pieces of ginger covered in hard sugar) or 1 tbsp ground ginger.
- If you use fresh pears, make sure they’re ripe and peel them over a bowl to collect the juice for the drizzle.
- If you like your cake spicy, use extra ginger.
- Be sure to let the cake cool before adding the drizzle or else it will absorb into the warm cake.
Pears
I have a pear tree in my garden. It’s laden with fruit in late summer, but, sadly, we don’t get to eat any of those beautiful pears. We moved in over a year ago, but the tree hasn’t been pruned in decades.
It’s so incredibly tall that the fruit smashes to smithereens by the time it lands on the ground. Yup, basically a bird buffet. It’s such a shame and we really need to get someone out to prune our 20ft pear tree this year. *adds to to-do list*
In the meantime, I love the convenience and flavour of canned pears in juice. They’re a great year-round treat. I grew up on them on ice cream, with custard, and in my mum’s famous pear and ricotta cake (I must get the recipe and blog it soon!).
I’ve used canned pears in this ginger and pear polenta cake as they’re soft, easy and full of lovely juice for the pear drizzle. My sisters and I used to always argue over who got to drink the juice from the can.
Recipe first published 28 November 2016
Republished 31 October 2018
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Get the Ginger Pear Polenta Cake Recipe
Ginger and Pear Polenta Cake (gluten-free) with Pear Drizzle
Ingredients
For the Ginger and Pear Polenta Cake
- 415 g (15oz can) of pears, drained and finely chopped (juice reserved for drizzle)
- 180 g (2 cups) ground almonds
- 150 g (⅔ cup) unsalted butter, softened - use dairy free butter for a dairy free cake
- 125 g (⅔ cup) castor sugar
- 3 eggs
- 100 g (½ cup) polenta or fine cornmeal (not quick-cook polenta)
- 3 pieces stem ginger in syrup (finely chopped) or 1 tbsp ground ginger or 3 tbsp crystallized ginger
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder (check that it’s gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
For the Pear Drizzle
- 6 tablespoons powdered icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
- 3-4 teaspoons pear juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/160Cfan/350F. Grease a 23cm/9inch loose-bottomed or springform cake pan and line the base with baking parchment.
For the ginger and pear polenta cake:
- In a large bowl, or stand mixer, beat all cake ingredients until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out evenly.
- Cook for 35-45 minutes until the surface is browned and the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before carefully turning out.
For the pear drizzle:
- Stir the juice and powdered sugar together until smooth. Drizzle over the completely cooled cake and serve.
Recipe Tips
- If you don't have polenta, you can use fine cornmeal instead.
- You can use chopped fresh pears, or canned pears in juice.
- The stem ginger in the recipe is the balls/chunks of peeled fresh ginger, candied in syrup.
- Substitute stem ginger for 3 tbsp crystallised ginger (the hard dry pieces of ginger covered in hard sugar) or 1 tbsp ground ginger.
- If you use fresh pears, make sure they're ripe and peel them over a bowl to collect the juice for the drizzle.
- If you like your cake spicy, use extra ginger.
- Be sure to let the cake cool before adding the drizzle or else it will absorb into the warm cake.
Nutrition Information
Thanks for checking out my recipe! I love hearing from my readers. You all allow me to do what I love and write this UK food blog, sharing vegetarian and vegan recipes, vegetable cake recipes and also easy vegan desserts.
Kate x
Jen
I added an extra egg and extra ginger.
Baked for 50min at 180C
Buttermilk, powder sugar and lemon juice for the drizzle – nice tang 🙂
Meredith
I made this pear & ginger cake for my dad’s birthday dinner and he *loved* it! The whole family did, including the kids.
Having the diced pear spread throughout the batter kept the whole cake moist, and it was much less fiddly than attempting an upside-down cake.
I added extra ginger because we’re all fans of it – 1tsp of powdered ginger, and several cubes of crystallised ginger. I also replaced the almond extract with 1tsp of the stem ginger syrup. I left off the pear drizzle but it still looked very pretty on the plate.
Definitely making this recipe again. Thanks so much!
Guido | Nonna Box
Wow! This is a very creative way of cooking polenta! In Italy we usually eat polenta with cheese or meat – but I really want to try this recipe, it sounds sooo delicious! Pinning it for later for sure – Thanks!
Sidra
Great recipe definitely try this 🙂
Beth L
The easier the better and I know this flavor combo is fantastic!! Can’t wait to make this.
Meagen Brosius
Such a delicious recipe. Finding great gluten free dessert recipes can be tricky so I was thrilled when this turned out so well! Yum!
Helen Clubb
Looks like a great recipe! What temperature do you bake the cake at please?
Kate Hackworthy
Sorry! The recipe is updated now. 180C/350F.
Susan
Kate, I have a pear tree that produces lots of pears, can I make this r3cipe with fresh pears? If so, can u tell me how much pears and what to do about juice
Sharon
Really great caek. I needed a gluten free cake for a party so I made it. I used the stem ginger and added extra syrup to the drizzle. So good!
Reynna
I love anything with ginger and this was absolutely amazing! I baked it for my work Christmas party (even though I can’t bake! but this was easy and worked perfectly. Everyone lvoed it.
Kate Hackworthy
This cake is seriously easy. I hope you give it a go!
Heather @Boston Girl Bakes
I had a gluten free polenta cake when I was in Ireland this summer..and this cake reminds me of..it was the best thing I had while I was there so I definitely can’t wait to try this!
Jovita @ Yummy Addiction
Your photos got my mouth watering. This cake looks so good! Ginger + pear… YUM!
HedgeComber
I am a bit of a pro at pruning fruit trees, and the best bit is you can happily pay me in cake 🙂
Gorgeous recipes as usual
Janie x
Kate Hackworthy
I’d definitely pay you in cake!!
Elizabeth
Mmmmm that is one seriously gorgeous sounding cake! How lucky are you to have your own pear tree, bird buffet or no?! 🙂
Lane & Holly @ With Two Spoons
This is gorgeous! I love polenta-I’m sure I would love baking with it!
Kavey
Aah, Del Monte, my mind always goes straight to that 1980s advert of my childhood! Love the combination of ginger and pear, and good to have a recipe that works so well with canned fruit.
Kate Hackworthy
I always think of the advert with the Man from Del Monte as well! Canned fruit makes it easy to add lovely flavour and texture to this cake.
Li z Mays
I’m so curious about this with the polenta. The ginger and pear combination is absolutely perfect too.
Meg | Meg is Well
One of my favorite pies has cornmeal in it but I’ve never tried another dessert recipe that uses it! So happy to have found one-I think it adds a little something extra in the texture department. I love the flavor combo of pear and ginger too, so this cake is a total winner!
Claire @foodiequine
Like you I grew up loving tinned pears. Pretty much the only desert option of my childhood was tinned fruit with either custard or ice cream. I bet they work really well in this cake. Fresh ones seem to either be rock hard or over ripe.
Kristina @ Love & Zest
Oh this cake looks really good. I love using canned pears in cake.
Bintu | Recipes From A Pantry
I am a huuuuuuge fan of Del Monte and have lots of their fruit in my pantry – I must say I have never tried them in gluten free bake like this. Next on my list.
Tara } Deliciously Declassified
Yum! I’ve never had a polenta cake before and the flavor combination of ginger and pear sounds wonderful. Also, an easy clean-up is always a bonus! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Mark, Compass & Fork
What a fabulous looking cake! I really do like the use of pears in cakes. And gluten-free. You have ticked all the boxes with this one.
Kate Hackworthy
Thanks Mark. I really love pears in cake, too.
Shane
Pear is one of my favorite flavors! This combo sounds simply delectable 🙂 will have to try for myself!
sus @ roughmeasures.com
I bet this is a lovely texture with those juicy pears. ‘My parents pear tree barely fruits, and when it does they are tiny!
Kate Hackworthy
It’s so hard to get nice pears at home. Thank goodness for lovely tinned ones!
Helene D'Souza
I like convenient recipes too, they are helpful when I need something tasty quickly. I am a huge polenta fan, however we don’t use this ingredient much in sweet dishes. I can’t wait to try using polenta in a cake, it will be the first time I baked polenta.
Kate Hackworthy
I hope you enjoy it. I love the texture polenta brings. In this cake it works so well with the pears.
fashionandstylepolice
Wow this cake looks very delicious. Would love to taste this.
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes
Ginger and pear is such a yummy combination. I love using polenta in cakes too.
Kate Hackworthy
Polenta gives it such a lovey texture, doesn’t it! Pear and ginger are so good together 🙂
Jenny
I love baking with polenta, this sounds really delicious.
Max
Yes, but have you actually made it?
If so at what temperature?