Recipes have been adapted with permission from Sweet Vegan Treats by Hannah Kaminsky. For more delicious vegan desserts, you can purchase her book on Amazon. 

Imagine delicately spiced pears cooked until fork tender, sitting atop a luscious pillow of maple-scented cashew crème, all contained within a soft, nutty crust. Sound like a dream? Well wake up, because this delight is easily a reality!

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Combine the sugar, almond flour or meal, cornmeal, chickpea flour, and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the butter or coconut oil and pour it in, along with the water. Stir to combine all the dry ingredients and press this mixture firmly into a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool, leaving the oven on.

2. In a blender or food processor, begin blending the soaked cashews, non-dairy milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Once the nuts are mostly broken down, crank up your machine to high speed and thoroughly puree. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the mixture to become completely smooth, so don’t stop short. Pause as needed to scrape down sides of the container with your spatula to ensure that there are no lumps. Smooth the resulting crème into your crust and set aside.

3. Peel, core, and thinly slice the pears. Toss the slices with the sugar and cinnamon to evenly coat. Arrange them in an overlapping spiral on top of the cashew crème layer. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pears are fork-tender. Let cool and sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.