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+ servings
Slice of Pear Spice Cake on a plate with a bite removed
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5 from 6 votes

Pear Spice Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

A soft, flavorful, easy spice cake recipe is filled with fresh pear compote and covered in a nutty and caramelized brown butter frosting.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Cooling and Assembly1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12
Calories: 433kcal

Equipment

  • 8-inch cake pan
  • Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
  • Offset spatula or butter knife

Ingredients

Cake

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature (57g)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar (200g)
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (180g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ½ cup sour cream room temperature (120g)
  • ½ cup whole milk room temperature (120 ml)

Pear Filling

  • 3-4 pears peeled, cored and diced (450-500g)
  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar (38g)
  • ½ cup water divided (4 fl.oz)
  • 1.5 tablespoons cornstarch (12g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Brown Butter Frosting

  • ½ cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter browned (127g)
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 cups powdered sugar (360g)
  • ¼ cup heavy whipping cream (60ml)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

Instructions

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃ and parchment line the bottom of one 8-inch cake pan.
  • Into a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
  • In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, mix together the room temperature sour cream and whole milk.
  • In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a handheld mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on medium speed for one minute, then scrape down the sides.
  • With the mixer on low speed, spoon in the dry ingredients until completely combined, then drizzle in the sour cream and milk mixture until the batter comes together.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake the cake for 30-40 minutes. Check first around 25 minutes. When done, the cake should slightly pull away from the sides and the middle should not be sloshy. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean with a few moist crumbs.
  • Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
  • While the cake bakes and cools, make the brown butter and pear filling.

Brown Butter

  • To make the brown butter, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the butter every once in a while so the milk solids on the bottom of the pan don't burn. You will start to see the milk solids turn brown and will notice a delightful change in smell – be careful not to burn it, but definitely make sure they're brown. This could take anywhere from 5–10 minutes depending on your stove top.
  • Pour the butter into a heat proof bowl and place in the fridge. You want the butter to mostly solidify, but it should still be soft. I like to stir mine every once in a while to help it along. Remove from the fridge when it gets to this point.

Pear Compote

  • Peel, core, and dice the pears. Add to a medium saucepan with the brown sugar and ¼ cup of water and cook on medium heat. Stir occasionally until the pears begin to soften. With the back of a wooden spoon, mash up some of the pears, leaving it relatively chunky.
  • Stir together the remaining ¼ cup of water and cornstarch then add to the pears and stir in immediately. Allow it to bubble and thicken for about a minute while stirring, add the vanilla, then transfer to a heatproof bowl to cool completely.
  • To speed up this process, add the pears to the fridge and stir it every 15 minutes until cool.

Brown Butter Frosting

  • Add the softened brown butter to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a handheld mixer). Cream the butter and one cup of the powdered sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.
  • On low speed, add in the second cup of powdered sugar, followed by half of the heavy cream and the vanilla and turn to medium high for 30 seconds.
  • Turn back to low and add the final cup of powdered sugar and the last half of heavy cream. Turn to medium and beat for a final 30 seconds.
  • The frosting should be a light, spreadable consistency. If it's too loose, add a bit more powdered sugar. If it's too stiff, add a bit more heavy cream (or milk or water).

Assembly

  • With a large serrated knife, slice the cake evenly in half on the horizontal. If you want to remove the dome on top for a perfectly flat cake, you can follow the same method to trim it. I leave the dome for a rustic finish on this one.
  • Place the bottom layer of the cake (with cut side up) on your serving dish and pipe two dam borders one on top of the other around the edge. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a ziploc bag.
  • Add the the pear filling to the center of the cake and use a spoon to push it out so it meets the edges of the dam. You don’t want the pear filling to be higher than the frosting dam or else it will squeeze out of the sides.
  • Place the top layer on and gently press down. Add the buttercream to the top of the cake and use an offset spatula, rubber spatula, or butter knife to completely cover the cake.
  • Slice, and serve.

Notes

Store the cake covered plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days. Allow the cake or slices to come to room temperature before enjoying. 

Nutrition

Calories: 433kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 57mg | Sodium: 265mg | Potassium: 138mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 535IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 1mg