Pear Cake
A French-style cake with ground almonds and sliced pears set into the batter, baked for 50 minutes and served warm.
Photograph credit: Pear Cake Lavender Pecans - Free photo on Pixabay by Tawnyowl · Pixabay Content License · Pixabay
This is what to bake in the first cold week of autumn, when pears are at their sweetest and the idea of fruit and cake in the same dish seems wise. A French pear cake is a gentle thing, a soft, buttery batter with a fine crumb and slices of fruit set into the top, and the whole thing is fragrant with vanilla and almond.
Choose ripe but firm pears, such as Conference or Williams. Soft ones fall apart in the oven and make the batter damp. Peel them, halve them, remove the cores and slice thinly lengthways. Toss the slices with lemon juice to stop them going brown while you make the batter.
Fan the slices and press them in halfway. Arranged in a spiral on top of the batter, they cook in the steam rising from the cake, and the batter rises around them to hold them in place. Fruit placed loosely on the surface curls and dries out at the edges.
Ground almonds in the batter add moisture and a gentle nuttiness that pears love. Bake at 175°C / 345°F until a skewer comes out clean and the edges pull away from the tin. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with a spoonful of crème fraîche. It tastes better still the next day.
Quick Answers
How long does Pear Cake take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking, plus 15 minutes of cooling, so allow 1 hour 25 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 10.
Pear Cake: Step by Step
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Heat the oven to 175°C / 345°F. Grease and line a 23 cm springform tin.
-
Beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
-
Fold in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt with the milk. Spread in the tin.
-
Peel, core and slice the pears and toss with the lemon juice. Fan the slices over the batter and press them in halfway.
-
Bake for 50 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and dust with the icing sugar.
A Few Pointers
- Use ripe but firm pears.
- Toss the slices in lemon juice.
- Press the fruit halfway into the batter.
Serve It With
Creme fraiche · Whipped cream · Coffee · Dessert wine
Keeping and Reheating
Keeps in an airtight container for 3 days.
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More French cooking and baking ideas from Weekly Delight.
Pear Tart
A shortcrust tart filled with almond cream and sliced pears, brushed with apricot jam.
Cake au Citron
A moist lemon loaf cake with a crisp sugar glaze, made with yoghurt, olive oil and lemon zest and baked for 50…
Gateau Nantais
A moist almond and rum cake baked for 45 minutes and brushed with a warm rum syrup, then finished with a thin white…
Moelleux aux Pommes
A soft, moist apple cake studded with diced apples and scented with cinnamon, baked for 40 minutes in a round tin.
Tarte Tropezienne
A split sugar-topped brioche filled with vanilla crème mousseline, made from an enriched dough that rises for an…
Canneles
Small fluted cakes with a dark caramelised shell and a custard centre, made from a rum and vanilla batter rested…