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This Spiced Pear and Almond Cake is one for the books! Riddled with chopped pears and bursting with cinnamon and cardamom flavor – this cake is super moist and tastes heavenly. It’s easy to make and even easier to eat!
For more cake recipes, try my pistachio ricotta cake and almond cake with mascarpone frosting next!
I love a good almond cake and this easy one layer cake is so good ya’ll! It’s such a simple cake but all of the flavors come together so well – soft pears, cinnamon, and cardamom surrounded by a fluffy cake and topped with sliced pears and almonds?! What!? This spiced pear and almond cake is nothing short of amazing.
It’s easy to make and super impressive. This recipe incorporates anjou pears (the green ones) that are chopped and folded into the batter, a little almond extract, and then a lot of love :). The anjou pears can typically be found year round so no worries about sourcing of ingredients. That being said, this is the perfect recipe to make for any occasion. Especially with a scoop of ice cream.
Key Ingredients
Last year, I made Pear and Gorgonzola Puff Pastry! Ever since, I’ve been obsessed with baking with pears. They’re so much fun for both sweet and savory recipes.
So, when I made this recipe, I knew that I wanted to add some umph with some spice. Not hot spice, but spicy spice – like warm and cozy spice. And I’m so glad that I did because it turned out incredibly. See the list below!
- basic dry ingredients – all purpose flour, baking powder baking soda, and salt
- spices – cinnamon and cardamom, brown sugar and granulated sugar
- wet ingredients – milk, eggs, and almond extract
- salted butter – specifically Minerva Dairy butter, my fave 🙂
A few simple ingredients goes a long way! Put everything together and this Spiced Pear and Almond Cake is ready in no time!
Should I use ripe pears?
This recipe calls for 2 medium sized anjou pears. These pears are pretty juicy and have a nice hint of citrus. The pears should be slightly firm and green in color.
Because the pears will be baked, it’s best that they’re slightly firm. If the pears are ripe/too soft, they’ll be pretty mushy and the cake’s texture will be a little weird – like apple sauce. Firm pears will ensure that the cake has a really nice texture while still adding a lot moisture and flavor.
Equipment Needed
- 9-inch Springform pan
- A good knife to chop up the pears
- Optional – a mandoline to slice the pears thinly
- Anti stick baking spray – I SWEAR by Pam’s Perfect Release Baking Spray
How To Make Pear and Almond Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a bowl and whisk together.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, and sugar and add almond extract, milk, and melted butter. Continue to whisk until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold together. Then fold in chopped pears. Spray a springform pan with baking spray or line with parchment paper. Add the batter.
- Thinly slice 2 pears vertically. Place on top of the batter (like in the pictures) and add chopped almonds. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes.
- Optional – dust with confectioners sugar!
How To Serve Pear and Almond Cake
Incredibly enough, this spiced pear and almond cake is delicious by itself. I personally would recommend to serve this with a cup of vanilla ice cream, but that’s if you want to add a decadent touch. Plus, ice cream makes literally everything better!
This cake is great with some tea or coffee too. It’s one of the beautiful things about this recipe – it doesn’t NEED to have anything with it. It speaks for itself and you’ll be hooked at first bite!
more recipes to try!
If you have leftover pears, you’ll definitely want to give these recipes a go!
- Holly Jolly Christmas Sangria
- Balsamic Braised Beef with Pears
- Pear Mug Pie
- Coconut Loaf Cake
- Honey Pear Loaf
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If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and comment below! You can also tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can celebrate your beautiful creations!
The recipe and blog post for this Spiced Pear and Almond Cake was made in partnership with Minerva Dairy! I received compensation in exchange for this work. My opinions on their butter is genuine. If I didn’t love their products, I would certainly mention it! Thanks for your continued support!
Spiced Pear Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tbsps salted butter, melted
- 2 anjou pears, chopped
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced
- 2 Additional anjou pears for topping
- Sliced Almonds
- Confectioners Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom in a bowl and whisk together.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, almond extract, brown sugar, milk, and melted butter. Whisk together for about one minute, until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and fold together. Then fold in chopped pears.
- Spray a springform pan with baking spray/oil and/or line with parchment paper. Pour in batter.
- Thinly slice additional pears vertically and squeeze lemon juice on top to prevent pears from browning in the oven. Place pears on top of the batter and sprinkle with sliced almonds. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool for about 20 minutes.
- Optional, dust with confectioners sugar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looks great and will try it. Can I make it two days before a dinner party? Thanks
Hi! I don’t recommend making this that far in advance as the pears on top could become a little soggy. But 1 day in advance would be just fine. I hope that you love it!
I bought some beautiful organic pears today, and found your recipe. It looks so delicious. I was looking for something smaller. Have you halved this recipe and used a smaller baking vessel? Many thanks!
Hi! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, I have no halved this recipe before, but I think that you could cut it in half and bake it in a smaller cake pan. The baking time will be less so keep an eye on it.
This cake stays moist for days! We made this for thanksgiving and had it the next day and the day after that and it was still so moist and delicious!!