Chocolate and Cinnamon Brownie Cake with Hazelnut and Pears

If you’re looking for a simple, but still very beautiful and delicious cake – you just found one! This is a chocolate and cinnamon brownie cake, topped with cinnamon cream, hazelnut streusel and caramelized pears. Even thought it sounds like a lot of work – each step is easy and quick, and at the end you’ll have a pretty and so yummy cake, everyone will just love.

Chocolate and Cinnamon Brownie Cake with Hazelnut and Pears

24 cm round cake pan

For cinnamon brownie:
230 grams dark chocolate
150 grams butter
175 grams sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
100 grams all-purpose flour (see notes for gluten free version)

For caramelized pears:
2 ripe pears, peeled and diced
50 grams sugar
15 grams butter

For hazelnut crumble:
25 grams cold butter, cut into cubes
25 grams light brown sugar
25 grams all-purpose flour
20 grams chopped hazelnuts

For cinnamon cream:
250 ml. heavy cream
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. sugar powder
1 tsp. cream stabilizer of instant vanilla pudding mix

Preparation:

1. Brownie: preheat oven to 175c degrees and grease the pan.
2. In a medium bowl melt chocolate and butter in the microwave or over double boiler.
3. Add sugar, salt and cinnamon and beat well.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, while whisking between additions.
5. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into the pan, and smooth the top.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are set but the center is still a little soft. Cool at room temperature.
8. Caramelized pears: Peel the pears and cut into large cubes.
9. Heat a large skillet with sugar and form caramel.
10. Add in pears and butter, reduce the heat and simmer the pears for about 5-10 minutes until softened slightly, but still solid.
11. Cool completely at room temperature.
12. Hazelnut crumble: preheat oven to 175c degrees.
13. In a food processor with a steel blade put butter, sugar, flour and nuts and process until crumbly.
14. Transfer the crumbs into a pan lined with baking paper and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
15. Cool completely at room temperature.
16. Cinnamon cream: in a bowl of a mixer, whip cream, cinnamon, powdered sugar and stabilizer until very stable cream forms.
17. Transfer the whipped cream into a piping bad fitted with a 2 cm round piping tip.
18. Assemble the cake: pipe mounds of cinnamon cream over the brownie base.
19. Arrange pear cubes and hazelnut crumble freely on top.
20. Refrigerate until serving.

Notes:

• Keep the cake in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days, but it’s at its best a day or two after preparation.
• If you want to receive a higher cake, prepared the brownie in a 20-22 cm round pan.
• Gluten-free version: use cornstarch instead of flour.