Spiced Pear Cake

This easy homemade spiced pear cake has a moist, tender crumb and is filled with warm fall flavors and fresh pear slices in every bite. It’s the perfect simple one-layer cake to kick off your fall baking!

Sometimes in life you just need something simple yet elegant. This one-layer Spiced Pear Cake fits that bill. It’s easy to make, comes together with minimal fuss, but tastes divine. Impress your guests with its elegance, elevated flavor and presentation. And impress yourself with the minimal amount of time it takes to make and its simple ingredients. This pear cake has a moist, tender crumb and is filled with warm fall flavors and fresh pear slices in every bite. It’s the perfect one-layer cake to kick off your fall baking!

If you haven’t noticed, I’m a big fan of pears. Every August, I eagerly await the start of pear harvest. It’s my favorite time of year. The girls and I go down to the orchard to “help” with the harvest. The girls spend time with their grandpa and dad unloading pear bins and loading pear trucks while I pick unreasonable amounts of pears to take home. I love that harvest is a family affair, even if I’m only providing goodies for the harvest crew.

One of my favorite things to do each year is to develop new pear recipes to use up all the pears we have. I came up with this homemade spiced pear cake recipe a few years ago. It instantly became a family favorite. It’s easy to make and has such a great fall aroma. The cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and ginger add the warm and cozy fall spice flavor. Couple those spices with the pears and crème fraiche and it’s a match made in heaven. Enjoy this easy one-layer spiced pear cake slightly warm with a dusting of powdered sugar, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

If you love baking with pears as much as I do, be sure to check out my Salted Caramel Pear Pie, Spiced Pear Waffles and Pear Pecan Muffins with Oat Pecan Crumble.

Best Pears for Baking

Baking throughout fall gives us plenty of chances to use seasonal ingredients. See my tips below for the best type of pear to use for baking.

• Best pear varieties for baking: Bosc, Anjou and Bartlett
• For baking, look for pears that are firm but ripe.
  • Check the neck. Apply gentle pressure to the neck of the pear with your thumb. If it yields to pressure, it’s ripe.
• If the pears are rock hard when you buy them, you will have to wait a few days for them to ripen on the counter.
• Mushy pears aren’t good for baking, so don’t use them for this recipe.

How to Make a Homemade Pear Cake with Fresh Pears

This spiced pear cake is simple to make. Start by preheating the oven to 350°F. Place the oven rack in the center position, so the top of the cake doesn’t brown too fast. Next, grease a 9-inch springform pan and set aside.

Now, in a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, ground cinnamon, allspice, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and pinch of ground cloves. Set this bowl aside.

Next, in a bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Now reduce the speed on the stand mixer to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

To ensure the batter doesn’t get overmixed, reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in two additions, alternating with the crème fraiche. Scrape down the bowl once or twice to ensure the ingredients are being incorporated evenly. Stir until the batter is just smooth, again being careful not to overmix it.

Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the sliced pears. Gently fold the pears in the batter with a spatula. Next, pour the batter into the greased cake pan. Level and smooth the batter with an offset spatula. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the springform pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the sides of the springform pan. Dust pear cake lightly with powdered sugar if desired.

Print

Recommended Tools