Pear Torte

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Gluten-Free Vegan Pear Torte

This recipe is from The Gluten-Free Vegan cookbook by Susan O'Brian.  Every recipe I've tried from her cookbook has turned out great.  This torte was delicious. I made it for New Year's Eve and everyone loved it, allergy-sensitive and not. I used Comice pears.

Pear Torte
(The Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O’Brien)

Crust½ Cup Vegan Margarine
1/3 Cup Agave Nectar
¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¾ cup Sorghum Flour
2/3 cup Chopped Walnuts

Filling
1 (8-ounce) Tub Tofutti Soy Cream Cheese
1 Tablespoon Tofutti Soy Sour Cream
1 Egg or 1 ½ Teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked together with 2 Tablespoons Warm Water
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/8 Cup Agave Nectar
1 Pound Pears, peeled, cored and sliced
Ground Cinnamon, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan or dish or (I used my quiche plate) with vegetable oil.

Prepare the crust: Beat the margarine with the agave nectar until creamy. Add the rest of the crust ingredients. Stir to blend together well. Spread in the prepared pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until set. Let cool while you make the filling.

For the filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat all the filling ingredients together (except the pears and cinnamon) until well blended. Pour over the cooled crust. Arrange the sliced pears on top of the filling. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Bake at 350 degrees until set, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Store in refridgerator after cooled. Tastes just a great or better the next day.