dairy free chocolate pear birthday cake? no problem!

I told you September was a birthday month and that i was in the mood for baking... so sorry, but it is cake again ;) in turn for my birthday, I decided to treat my workmates to something sweet and as I had decided to follow a non-dairy diet for a few weeks, I went on the search for something plausible and i found this recipe and as it says it in the blog, this cake is the BOM! ;) we had it cold at uni with a glass of Cava (thanks Nick :) ), but I can only imagine it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! YAHAAAM! :d

what you need:
-115 gr unsalted butter, softened (or non-dairy substitute)
-1/2 cup sugar
-4 eggs, room temperature
-115 gr dark chocolate, chopped (melted &cooled slightly)
-1/2 cup all purpose flour
-1/2 cup almond or hazelnut meal (finely ground)
-4 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 4 Bosc pears, poached (sometimes, I use poached pears from a jar to save time)

Poach the pears: peel, cut in half and core the pears. Combine 2-3 cups of water and half a cup of sugar in a sauce pan on medium-high heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the pears (add more water if needed to cover the pears), bring to a low boil and cook for 20-25 min or until fork tender. Drain and set aside.
(i poached the pears and i can only say yammm!)

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 175°C. Butter or spray a 25 cm round springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (I did it in a baking tray of about 25x15 cm and it was perfect ;))

Melt the chocolate and set aside. Do this any way you like, in the microwave (on 20 second intervals), in a bain marie or the hot water trick. (I did bain marie, but i think all work)

Sift together the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the melted chocolate, beat on a low speed until combined. Still on low speed, add the sifted flour mixture and beat for 1 minute, or until just combined.

Pour the batter into prepared cake pan. Arrange the sliced pears on top (i cut them in quarters). Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes. Do not overbake. When a tester is inserted into the center of the cake, it should come out with a few moist crumbs attached.
(I was scared i overbaked it as no my tester came out with no crumbs :( but it was perfect! :-D still bit moist inside, pfiu! ;))

blog i got recipe from: 'Confessions of a tart'
*Gg*