Vegan Holiday Cooking: Poached Pear Chai Bread

I recently received a copy of Vegan Holiday Cooking: 60 Meatless, Dairy-Free Recipes Full of Festive Flavors – just in time for the holidays! Kirsten Kaminski’s book offers veganized versions of classics like a Chocolate Yule Log, along with modern holiday flavors like a Creamy Pumpkin Latte. Holiday meals with the family can be stressful for vegans – so being able to easily make and bring your own stuffing, a lentil loaf, and dessert is a pretty sweet option to have.

To get things started, you’ll need to poach some pears. You can substitute the white wine in the poaching with white grape juice, or apple juice with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar to cut the sweetness.

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Vegan Poached Pear Chai Bread

Not only does this recipe feature some of my favorite winter flavors, but it just looks so fancy when you cut into it! I can’t help but do my best Mary Berry voice, “Oh that does look splendid, doesn’t it?”

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chai, chai bread, pear bread, poached pear

Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients

Poached Pears

• 2 medium pears any variety
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 tsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 cup dry white white or whatever sub you're using

Bread

• 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 3 Tbs water
• 1 cup almond or soy milk
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup date syrup
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• pinch salt

Orange Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 orange juiced

Instructions

For the Pears

• Slice the bottoms off the pears and peel them, leaving the stems attached.
• In a medium pot over high heat, bring the water, maple syrup, ginger and wine (ifusing) to a boil.
• Place the pears in the pot so that they stand upright and reduce the heat tomedium-low. Simmer for 6 to 7 minutes, until the pears are just tender, then carefully remove them from the pot and set aside.

For the Bread

• Once the pears are poached, get to work on the bread. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 9 x 5–inch (23 x 13–cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
• Make a flax egg by combining the flaxseed with the water in a small bowl. Set the mixture aside and let it thicken.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk with the vinegar and let the milk curdle for 5 minutes to create vegan buttermilk. Add the oil, date syrup, pumpkin puree and flax egg and combine.
• In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and salt.
• Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer
on low speed until just combined (don’t overmix).
• Pour the batter into 
the prepared loaf pan and gently place the pears inside so that they are standing upright, surrounded by the batter.
• Bake, covered, for 35 minutes. Uncover the loaf pan and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Let the bread cool slightly before transferring it to a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the Orange Glaze

• Combine the juice of one orange and powdered sugar in a small bowl and mix until smooth and pourable. (Add more or less orange juice depending on the desired consistency.) Drizzle the glaze on top of the bread and serve while it’s still warm.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase I may earn a commission. That being said, the opinions expressed in this post are my own.