Renowned chef and sustainability advocate Tom Hunt has revealed an ingenious recipe that transforms ordinary kitchen ingredients into an extraordinary dessert while championing the zero-waste movement. His pear, hazelnut and chocolate torte demonstrates how creative plant-based baking can significantly reduce food waste without compromising on flavour or texture.
The Philosophy Behind Sustainable Baking
In his cookbook Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet, Hunt incorporates whole food ingredients like rapadura sugar, emmer wheat and flaxseeds to enhance both nutritional value and taste. The chef firmly believes that zero-waste cooking fundamentally aligns with whole food cooking principles, a conviction strengthened while developing his plant-based recipe collection.
One of Hunt's most notable waste-reducing techniques involves aquafaba - the liquid from tinned chickpeas or other beans. This often-discarded liquid serves as a powerful emulsifier that can effectively replace eggs, especially when combined with ground flaxseeds or chia. This innovative approach transforms what would typically be poured down the sink into cakes with impressive lift and texture.
Seasonal Inspiration Meets Practical Baking
When crafting the dessert chapter for his cookbook, Hunt aimed to provide new methods for creating more nourishing cakes. His pear, hazelnut and chocolate torte exemplifies this mission, utilizing omega-rich flaxseed with aquafaba and featuring hazelnuts blitzed into flour rather than relying on conventional ground almonds.
Seasonality remains central to Hunt's cooking philosophy, which he describes as both joyous and economical. This approach connects home cooks to natural seasonal rhythms while supporting local produce. With pears currently fresh, plentiful and easily sourced locally, they provide perfect inspiration for this vegan chocolate torte that boasts a gooey texture, rich flavour and restrained sweetness.
Tom Hunt's Pear, Hazelnut and Chocolate Torte Recipe
This recipe serves approximately 10 people and requires a 23cm stoneware flan dish or similar baking vessel.
Ingredients:
- 250g shelled hazelnuts
- 100g light-brown sugar, plus extra for dusting and finishing
- 75g wholemeal flour (emmer wheat, regular wholemeal or plain white all work)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 100ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 100ml aquafaba
- 50g ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, or 2 tsp psyllium husk
- 4 pears, cored and cut into thin slices
- Yoghurt (coconut, soya or dairy), to serve (optional)
Method:
Begin by heating your oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and placing a large baking tray inside to heat up. Tip the hazelnuts onto the hot tray and roast for eight minutes before removing and allowing them to cool completely.
Pulse-blend the cooled nuts to a powder in a food processor, being careful to stop before the ground nuts become oily. Transfer the hazelnut powder to a large bowl and add the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, olive oil, aquafaba and flaxseeds. Beat everything together until thoroughly combined.
Grease your 23cm flan dish with a little olive oil, then spoon in one teaspoon each of flour and cocoa. Turn the dish several times to coat the interior evenly, then knock out any excess flour and sugar.
Fill the prepared dish with the hazelnut mixture, then artfully arrange the pear slices on top. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the pudding has risen and feels firm in the centre.
For the finishing touch, sprinkle the top of the baked torte with a little brown sugar. Alternatively, create your own brown sugar icing by blending the sugar to a fine powder. Hunt recommends serving the torte warm with your preferred yoghurt for optimal enjoyment.
The chef suggests slightly undercooking the torte to achieve a brownie-like centre, creating a delightful contrast between the crisp exterior and soft, gooey interior. This recipe not only delivers on taste but also embodies a more conscious approach to cooking that respects both ingredients and the environment.
