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.
Servings: 8
Calories: 468kcal
Equipment
- 8" cake pan
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- Rubber spatula
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.
Video
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 468kcal | Carbohydrates: 52g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 472IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 2mg
