Spiced Pear Cake
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This Spiced Pear Cake is an easy cake recipe that’s perfect for fall entertaining because it’s delicate and moist with the most delicious balance of fall spices! It makes a terrific brunch cake or you can serve it with some vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert!
A Pretty Cake For Fall
I love how pretty the top of this cake looks when you arrange the pears in an overlapping fashion and when dusted with a little powdered sugar it looks extra fancy for a special occasion. For two other decorative fruit desserts, try my French Apple Tart or my Easy Pear Tart.
As soon as you bite into this cake you’ll see how tender the crumb is and combined with all these wonderful fall spices, it’s the perfect cake to kick off your fall baking!
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What’s The Difference Between Using Oil and Butter in Cakes?
- The short answer is oil will give you a lighter, fluffier cake. For quick bread, I usually like to use a combination of butter and oil.
- The butter adds flavor, while the oil makes for a moist cake.
- This is because the oil is pure fat without milk solids which can weigh your cake down. It’s this pure fat that makes your cakes lighter.
- This article by Epicurious really dives deep into the subject and I couldn’t agree more!
Brown Sugar vs. White Sugar
I like to use brown sugar instead of white sugar for pear cake recipes because it gives a deeper richer flavor which is a terrific match with the spices and the pears.
Freshen Up The Holiday Spices
- If this is your first foray into holiday baking, it’s always a good idea to stock up on the basics like baking soda, baking powder, and spices!
- After a year of sitting in your cabinet, some of these things can lose their potency so it’s best to make sure they are fresh in order to achieve the best results.
The Spices
- The four spices you will need for this recipe you’ll probably need for most holiday baking, so you’ll be all set if you stock up on cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- However, you can also use 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice for this recipe in case you are missing one of the spices called for in the recipe.
What Pears Are Best For Pear Cake?
- The good news is for this cake you can really use any pear you like! I typically will use a Bartlette Pear or an Anjou Pear just because they are really accessible and always easy to find.
- It’s best if your pears are ripe since they will create a more tender texture once your cake is baked. Then cut off each side or “hip” of the pear.
- This will leave you with a square core and 4 pear quarters to easily slice thinly for the top of the cake.
Place the pear cut side down and slice 1/4″ slices. You’ll use about 2 pears for this depending upon the size of your pears.
Adding The Pears in a Decorative Fashion
To add the pears, I like to arrange them upright into the batter and slightly overlapping. They will bake into the cake this way and look really pretty once baked.
Give yourself about 1/4″ row in between each row of pears. This will help the cake bake thoroughly in between the pears.
Placing your pears upright down the cake also ensures everyone gets some tender pears in every slice of cake!
For a little added texture I also like to add some traditional oats on top. But you could also add walnuts too or both!
Once baked the oats get nice and toasty and look pretty baked into the cake.
More Fall Recipes You’ll Love:
- Pear Almond Tart Recipe
- Fresh Fig Cake with Crumb Topping
- Pumpkin Spice Waffles
- Apple Cinnamon Pastries
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Spiced Pear Cake
A delicious fall cake recipe perfect for a fall brunch or breakfast. Light and moist and flavored with the perfect amount of spice and tender baked pears.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120ml) of melted butter
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (135g) brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup (80ml) of water
- 1 ½ (7.5ml) tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ (210g) cup flour
- 1 tsp (5ml) baking soda
- ¾ tsp (3.75ml) salt
- 1 tsp (5ml) cinnamon
- ¼ tsp (1.25ml) ground ginger
- ¼ tsp (1.25ml) nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp (large pinch) ground cloves
- 2 ripe pears, any variety
- 1 tbsp (5g) old fashioned oats
- dust with powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and spray a 9x5 (23cm x 13cm) loaf pan with baking spray. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the butter, oil, brown sugar, eggs, water and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Whisk until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking in thirds until combined.
Transfer batter to the loaf pan. Top with the sliced pears standing upright in alternating pattern. Sprinkle with oats.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and risen and a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool and remove cake from the tin and slice!
Notes
This cake is also great served as a dessert with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce drizzled on top!
Or make some homemade whipped cream and add a dash of brandy to it (recipe below)
For Homemade Whipped Cream:
2 cups of heavy cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp of brandy
Place all ingredients in a bowl and whip on high until soft peaks form. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 254Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 61mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 3gSugar: 30gProtein: 5g
I followed the instructions and it turned out perfectly – thanks!
YAY! So glad to hear it Layla! I have pears now growing on my tree and I’m just waiting for fall to try them in this 🙂 So glad it was a hit!
I see that there are different measurements in the video then the written! Which do you recommend I follow?
I’m so sorry! Follow the written instructions, they’ve been updated since the video was posted, I think the cake is better as written :). Apologies for the confusion!
I have two huge pear trees on my property that are FULL of pears. I am looking for a good recipe that I can use to make several of and freeze. Do you think this recipe would freeze well?
Oh sure this bread would freeze well! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I made this cake twice. The first time the cake between the slices did not cook through. The second time I broiled the top on low heat for 5 mins while closely watching, and it was much better!
I tried this on a Zoom bake with grandkids–we print the recipe and I bake at my house and they at theirs. Theirs came out great!
Mine looked great and it tased good around the edges of the pan although a bit dry. However there was uncooked batter under and on the bottom of the pear slices. I filled the pan with pear slices and it looked exactly like your picture although I didn’t need all of the pear slices to fill it. I baked it for the full 45 minutes @350 in a regular, non-convection oven. The toothpick came out clean near the edges. However I didn’t expect it to be clean in the middle because of the pears. Any suggestions?
Ahh OK, perhaps try spreading the pears out a bit more to allow for even baking inside. That may have been the issue? I love the idea of a Zoom Bake!! How cute 🙂
I have just baked this cake!
Yabadabadoo! You should try it too.
Good colour, consistency and, most importantly, taste.
Appreciate the post, Beth!
So glad to hear it was a hit!
Mine has been cooking for 45 minutes and still not cooked through, I just added 20 more minutes. I used a ceramic loaf Instead of a non stick metal loaf pan. Could this be the issue? I followed the directions to a T.
Ah yes those ceramic pans will take longer 🙂 I love the look of them :). but I’m also an impatient cook ha! So I stick with the speedier metal 🙂
I and my husband love this cake. I’m making it again for my friend. Thank you so much.
So glad it’s been a hit! It’s one of my favorites too! 🙂
It was lovely! Will definitely bake again!
So glad it was a hit! 🙂
Delicious Beth, a hit with the whole family. Thankyou for the recipe.
Have you tried this recipe with apples?
Personally I have not tried it, but if you do I would recommend a soft, sweet apple like a Gala or Pink Lady. A Granny Smith would be too tart and firm and may not become tender before the cake is done 🙂
I must have done something wrong. Mine came out extremely greasey 🙁 is that common? How can i fix it?
Oh no! Sounds like maybe there wasn’t enough flour added?
Baked this cake today and it is incredibly tasty! airy sponge and pears like cream on top. my dough turned out to be much more liquid than Beth’s, and I was worried about how it would be in the end, but it turned out great!
YAY! So glad it was a hit! 🙂