Disappearing Kernza Vegan Apple/Pear Cake

Introduction

This week’s recipe is a very flexible custardy dessert that is easy to assemble with common pantry ingredients.

How the Recipe Came About

My goal was to feature Kernza, the lastest grain of the month in this series on Whole Grains 101.

I tested a few different Kernza recipes this past week before narrowing things down to this fruity dessert.

What struck me is that whole grain Kernza flour works well in more custardy or pudding type recipes.

To lighten the pudding texture, adding a fruit such as apple or pear made sense.

That is when I remembered a French dessert I had been meaning to veganize called “Invisible aux Pommes” which is sometimes translated as “Disappearing Apple Cake”.

As a historical note, the invention of this cake is at times credited to Italian twins known as the Simili sisters.

The key feature of the cake is the thinness of the fruit slices which helps them essentially disappear into the batter once the cake is baked.

The other reason to call it a disappearing cake is that even with several trials worth of cake, it tends to be gone rather quickly 🙂

If you are looking for a lighter, fruit-based, nutritious dessert, this one may just be what you have been searching for.

Equipment Discussion

Fruit Peeler

While you can easily use a knife to peel the fruit, using a peeler makes the process much quicker.

The type of peeler I like to use has a dual purpose as a corer.

This allows you to core an apple and peel it without ever having to cut up the fruit into quarters to get to the core.

When you get to the next step of thinly slicing your apple, you are now dealing with just one piece of fruit instead of 4 quarters, which makes the slicing process quicker.

Mandoline

To achieve the thinnest slice size, a hand held mandoline is excellent.

Food processors also have a slicing function but I don’t know that you can always get as thin a slice size.

If you don’t have these tools, a sharp knife will work – just keep in mind, the thinner the better.

Eight Inch Square Baking Pan

I like to use a square baking pan for making this cake.

You get a thin layer of cake that way which cooks fairly quickly.

You could also use a more narrow loaf pan for a thicker cake but you will want to increase the cooking time.

Eight Inch Square Parchment Paper Liner

Thanks to air fryers, these days, it is fairly easy to find eight inch square parchment paper liners.

They are an easy hack to line your baking pan in contrast to having to cut up your parchment paper to fit the pan.

Using parchment paper here (instead of oiling the pan) makes it a lot easier to retrieve the cake whole.

Large Mixing Bowl

You will find that incorporating the sliced apples and pears works a lot better with a large mixing bowl such as the 8 quart one that is part of this set.

This will leave you room to delicately incorporate the thin slices without spilling over.

Blender

Since we are starting with whole ingredients (cashews, chickpeas) a blender is the best option to turn them into a smooth liquid.

The one I use is a Blendtec high speed blender but any blender, including a hand held blender, should work.

If using a regular blender, your mixing time will simply increase.

Ingredients Discussion

Apples/Pears

This recipe works really well with any combination of apples and/or pears.

You will want to use sweeter tasting apples like Gala or Fuji and not tart ones like Granny Smith because most of the sweetness comes from the fruit.

Firmer varieties of pears such as Bartlet or Anjou work best.

The cake tastes wonderful whether you peel the fruit or not but it will be most tender if using peeled fruit.

Kernza

Whole grain Kernza flour is used here.

As discussed in the previous post, Kernza is a perennial wheat and therefore it does contain gluten.

I milled my own Kernza flour using my Komo Fidibus stone mill at the finest setting.

(To learn more about home grain mills, please see this post.)

If you cannot find Kernza flour, then a soft whole wheat pastry flour can be used as well as whole grain einkorn, emmer or spelt flour.

For a gluten free option, consider using brown rice flour or teff flour.

While it is not included in the final recipe, I did try dry toasting the Kernza flour on medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Toasting helps to break down the bran and make it more digestible.

Having tried the cake both ways, I didn’t notice much of a different in flavor in the final cake product.

Just mentioning it here in case you have a very sensitive digestive system and want to take the time for that extra step.

Cooked Chickpeas and Aquafaba

Using chickpeas in desserts is something I learned from Flying Apron’s Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book.

Many recipes in that book use a combination of brown rice flour and chickpea flour.

In recent years, aquafaba aka “bean water” and typically chickpea cooking water, has also been very popular as a vegan egg white replacer.

This made me wonder, how about using cooked chickpeas with aquafaba instead of chickpea flour?

Indeed, when I tested the recipe with cooked chickpeas and aquafaba, the results were more moist than with toasted chickpea flour.

The chickpeas and aquafaba work as the binder in this recipe.

If chickpeas are not available, consider using cooked white beans or tofu instead.

Cashews

Most traditional cake recipes include milk and fat.

Because cashews are high in healthy unsaturated fats, they are a great option to use as a milk and fat substitute in vegan recipes.

If you are allergic to cashews, consider using coconut milk instead.

Cashews typically are best soaked prior to blending for smoother texture and optimal digestibility.

Here, we soak them for 15 minutes in boiling water.

If you have time, instead, you can soak them in room temperature water for 2 hours or overnight in the the refrigerator.

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is a more nutrient dense sweetener than white sugar.

You could substitute with agave nectar or honey (if you consume it).

I did also try using soaked dates but the flavor was too pronounced for my taste.

Flavoring

Here, I use vanilla extract as the main flavoring.

Depending on your preference, you could also add a teaspoon of cinnamon.

I did trial one option with ¼ teaspoon of almond extract in addition to the vanilla extract which was excellent.

Some variants of this cake use lemon zest and lemon juice but I suggest sticking to two flavorings at most, especially if you use a combination of fruits.

Uses

This cake works well as a light dessert or snack.

It is also healthy enough to be part of your breakfast.

Typically I will cut the cake up into 9 square slices.

Two slices are perfect for dessert while 1 slice works a snack or part of breakfast.

The cake tastes delicious plain but feel free to add a touch of extra maple syrup, red fruit, chocalate or vanilla sauce if you like.

Conclusion

While finishing up this post, I found the original non-vegan recipe also referred to as Dorie Greenspan’s Custardy Apple Squares.

The recipe commenters shared they had used other fruits, including blueberries, as well as other flavorings with good results.

Any way you slice it, there should be a variant of this cake that works for you.

Wishing you, as always, a grainlicious experience!