This delicious chocolate pear cake is a lightly sweet and perfectly balanced cake made with a bittersweet chocolate cake batter, and decorated with fresh pears on top. The fresh fruit and almond flour make this fruity chocolate cake delightfully moist and tender.
Finish this easy chocolate cake by brushing ginger simple syrup all over the top of the cake. While this step is optional, the ginger syrup provides a unique and delicious background note. Serve this chocolate pear cake as-is, or with ice cream or a dollop of fluffy whipped cream.
This base cake is adapted from our favorite almond cake recipe, also used in our coconut almond cake, almond fig cake, honey almond cake, and cherry upside-down cake! It's one of our absolute favorite cakes to make, as it's moist and buttery with an ultra-light crumb.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Great texture - this chocolate pear cake is incredibly moist! The almond flour helps to create an open crumb, while the juice from the fresh pear pieces bakes perfectly into the cake. You'll love the tender texture of this bake - and, it cuts like butter!
- Balanced flavor - this cake has a sweet bittersweet chocolate flavor due to the dutch processed cocoa powder, yet the flavor is perfectly balanced by the fresh, earthy pears.
- Beautiful - is there anything more lovely than seasonal fall pears peeking out from the top of a cake? The top of this cake is sure to be a show stopper.
Ingredients
- Dutch processed cocoa powder. This variety of cocoa produces a cake that's dark in color, and rich in chocolate flavor.
- Almond flour. Look for a finely ground variety. The almond flour adds texture, and open crumb, and keeps the cake moist.
- Eggs. Three eggs are used to keep the cake light and airy and provide structure.
- Neutral oil. Any neutral oil like canola oil, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil can be used.
- Pears. Fresh, ripe yet firm pears are best for this recipe. Bosc or Bartlett pears are great options.
- Ginger. Fresh ginger gets steeped in a simple syrup to brush on top of the finished cake for a unique, complimentary background note. This is optional!
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use any neutral oil in this chocolate pear cake recipe, such as canola, vegetable, or grapeseed oil.
- Using natural cocoa powder instead of dutch-processed cocoa powder will work just fine in this recipe, however it will be lighter in color and have less depth of flavor.
- Feel free to omit the ginger simple syrup if desired.
- This recipe is written for an 8" round cake pan. If baking in a 9" cake pan, reduce the bake time and expect a slightly thinner cake.
- Use Bob's Red Mill 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in place of all-purpose flour to make this recipe completely gluten-free.
How to Make This Recipe
- Step 1: Cream together the wet ingredients, then add the eggs and beat until fluffy.
- Step 2: Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Step 3: Add the almond flour and fold it into the batter by hand.
- Step 4: Spread the cake batter evenly into a prepared cake pan.
- Step 5: Peel, core, and slice the pear halves.
- Step 6: Arrange the slices on the cake batter in any pattern you enjoy, then bake the cake until done.
Hot tip! Leave some space in the center of the cake. Loading the center with pears will make the cake take longer to bake, which can lead to an uneven final product.
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- Step 7: While the cake bakes, make the ginger simple syrup. Heat the ginger, sugar, and water until the sugar is dissolved.
- Step 8: Brush the simple syrup all over the top of the cake. Cool the cake, then remove it from the pan using the parchment paper. Serve as is, with whipped cream, or ice cream.
Expert Tips
- When adding the pears to the top of the cake, be sure to leave some areas of cake uncovered to ensure even baking.
- Your pears should be ripe, yet still firm. If they're soft or mushy they'll add too much moisture to the cake.
- Be sure to get down to the bottom of the bowl as you fold in the almond flour to ensure it's properly mixed in.
- You must line the cake pan with a parchment paper round and a crossed strip of parchment paper to get it out of the pan.
- Take care when removing this chocolate pear cake from the pan - it's very delicate and can crack! It may help to have a second set of hands to help remove it.
Recipe FAQs
What variety of pears should I use?
Bosc, Bartlett, or Anjou pears are the best type of pear for this recipe (or a combination of pears!). Ensure they're ripe yet slightly firm.
Do I have to peel the pears?
No, however the skin will add a tough texture to the pear pieces.
Can I use canned pears?
Yes, in a pinch. To use canned pears, drain and dry them thoroughly to remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to add bake time due to the extra moisture.
Storage
Store the cake covered at room temperature for 2-3 days. It's best to allow a small amount of air into the cake because the pears contain so much moisture. This cake should not be frozen.
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What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
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📖Recipe
Chocolate Pear Cake
This delicious chocolate pear cake is a lightly sweet and perfectly balanced cake made with a bittersweet chocolate cake batter, and decorated with fresh pears on top. The fresh fruit and almond flour make this fruity chocolate cake delightfully moist and tender.
Equipment
- 8" cake pan
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
U.S. Cups vs MetricUse the metric toggle to convert the measurements
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large eggs room temperature and whisked
- 1 cup finely ground almond flour
- 2 pears peeled, cored,halved, and sliced
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 inch fresh ginger roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉ and grease an 8” cake pan and line with a parchment paper round and two strips of parchment paper going crosswise underneath (and sticking up the sides). You will use the strips to lift the cake out of the pan.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.⅔ cup all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup dutch processed cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Cream the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer) for two minutes on medium speed, then scrape down the sides.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup neutral oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly drizzle in the whisked eggs until completely incorporated. The mixture will look curdled, but will come together with the dry ingredients.3 large eggs
- Keeping the mixer on low speed, spoon in the dry ingredient mixture until it’s almost incorporated.
- Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the almond flour by hand until completely incorporated. Be sure to scrape down to the bottom and bring up the mixture in a "J" motion while folding.1 cup finely ground almond flour
- Add the batter to the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.
- Fan out the slices of pear and lay on top of the cake in a pleasing pattern.2 pears
- Bake in the center rack of the preheated oven for 40-50 minutes. The sides will have pulled away slightly and a toothpick or paring knife inserted into the center will come out with moist crumbs, but should not have wet batter on it.
- While the cake bakes, prepare the simple syrup. Add the sugar, water and grated ginger to a small saucepan over medium low heat and stir until hot and fully combined. Cool, then strain the mixture into a small bowl to remove ginger chunks.¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup water, 1 inch fresh ginger
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack, then brush the ginger syrup all over the top of the cake until it’s all used up.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes, then use the parchment paper slings to remove the cake from the pan and finish cooling on the wire rack until room temperature.
- Enjoy with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
The ginger simple syrup is optional.
Store the cake covered at room temperature for 2-3 days. It's best to allow a small amount of air into the cake because the pears contain so much moisture.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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