adapted from Food Network’s Pear Walnut Spice Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Liberally grease a 10 inch glass bundt pan with virgin coconut oil. If you are making muffins without paper liners, liberally grease 12 muffin holders in a muffin pan. If using paper liners, you can also oil the paper liners inside to have a clean-cut muffin when pulling off the liner.
3. Prepare flax seed mixture (1/3 cup ground flax seeds mixed with 1/2 cup filtered water) and set aside.
4. Mix together dry ingredients.
5. Sprinkle a spoonful of the dry ingredients on the Zante currants and toss around. This helps to prevent them from sinking in the cake.
6. Next, the wet ingredients are placed in a blender, preferably a Vitamix. Put the olive oil in first to help prevent sticking around the blades. Then add the flax mixture, 2 Tablespoons blackstrap molasses, 1/2 cup filtered water, 1 whole pear (including skin) — chopped and without the core, and 1/4 cup coconut milk. Blend well.
7. Combine wet and dry ingredients.  Mix.
8. Stir in the “mix-ins” (chopped pears and Zante currants).
9. Carefully spoon into bundt pan or divide batter evenly into 12 muffin liners.
10. Bake cake for 55-60 minutes. For muffins, bake for about 25 minutes.
11. Once cake has cooled for about 10-15 minutes, carefully turn pan upside down and remove cake. Make sure to remove the cake while it is still warm. It is delicate when handled warm, be careful.
12. After the cake has completely cooled, store in the fridge to chill the cake before cutting and serving. The cake holds together best and tastes best when it is cold.

Notes:

• I baked the cake in a glass bundt pan I ordered online from Mighty Nest, as many bundt pants are coated with toxic Teflon. The baking time may need adjusted if you are using a metal bundt pan.
• 2020 Update: I successfully made this recipe with sorghum flour in place of the quinoa. However, I did find it to be a little dry. The next time I make this recipe, I will keep the sorghum in place of the quinoa, increase the extra virgin olive oil to 3/4 cup, and nix the 1/4 cup of coconut milk.