A lovely pear cake, made with fresh pears, nestled in a lightly sweet and moist almond cake. A perfect cake to enjoy any time of day.
This lovely pear cake is not a cake with pears in it. It’s pears with some cake in it. It is classically Italian. It features 3 pears, peeled and halved that are placed on top of a thick batter flavoured with ground almonds. As it bakes, the pears sink in to the cake, just barely peeking out the top by the time it’s fully cooked. For the last few minutes of baking, it’s topped with a generous layer of sliced almonds, just to heighten the almond flavour.
This cake is lovely, moist and light, owing to the large amount of fruit. It’s also lightly sweetened, so it’s perfect to enjoy any time of day. For a special dessert, serve it topped with a dollop of whipped cream.
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Ingredient Notes
Here are the simple ingredients you will need …
- Pears – If you can’t find fresh pears, canned or jarred pear halves would also work in this cake. For fresh pears, start with pears that are ripe, but still have firmness to them.
- Butter – you can use salted or unsalted butter. If using unsalted, you may want to add a small pinch of salt to the batter.
- White granulated sugar
- Eggs (2)
- All purpose flour – haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, though I suspect a cup-for-cup gluten free flour should work here. I haven’t tested with almond flour.
- Ground almonds – not almond flour, which is more finely ground. Ground almonds have the texture of cornmeal and are easily found in the baking section of most grocery stores. Alternately, you can process whole blanched almonds in a food processor.
- Baking powder
- Flaked almonds – also known as sliced almonds
- Icing sugar, for garnish
Recipe Video
Cook’s Notes
- Prepare the pears by first peeling, then slicing in half from the stem end to the bottom. Use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds and also remove the thin, tough spine that runs up to the stem end.
- As this cake is very moist and mostly pear, it is best enjoyed shortly on the day of baking.
- Enjoy this cake on its own or with a dollop of whipped cream. For a really special dessert, try some mascarpone, mixed with a bit of powdered sugar to sweeten and flavoured with a little orange zest.
- You can refrigerate any left-overs to stretch it to the next day.
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Get the Recipe: Italian Pear Almond Cake
A delicious and easy pear cake, that's more pears than cake. Moist and lightly sweet, it is perfect for any time of day. Best enjoyed on the day it's baked.
4.91 stars from 117 ratings
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Prep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 35 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients
- 9 Tablespoons (125 g) butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature. If using unsalted, add a small pinch of salt to the batter (1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon)
- 9 Tablespoons (125 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 6 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (50 g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups (100 g) ground almonds, not almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 medium pears, ripe, but still firm, peeled, cored and halved lengthwise
- 1/3 cup (50 g) flaked almonds
- Icing/confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375° F. (not fan assisted)
Grease an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and white sugar together at medium speed until pale in colour and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl between eggs (be sure to get all the way to the bottom of the bowl, where unincorporated butter can hide.. With the mixer on low, mix in the all purpose flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Spoon the batter into the prepared springform pan and use a spatula to even out the mixture. (Batter will be thick and fill the pan only to about an inch thick).
Prepare pears, by peeling, then cutting in half from the stem end to the bottom. Use a small spoon to remove the core and also scrape away the thick spine that runs up to the stem end. Set aside.
Arrange the pear halves in a circle on the top, cut side down and with the thin end towards the centre of the cake. Sprinkle flaked almonds over-top. Bake in pre-heated 375° oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake tests clean when a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake.
Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin, then run a knife around the outside and carefully remove the ring and base. Dust with icing/confectioners' sugar before serving.
Notes
Be sure to read the "Ingredient and Cook's Notes" above the recipe card for more tips on making this recipe.
Cuisine: Italian
Course: Dessert
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 310kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 20g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 65mg, Sodium: 107mg, Potassium: 136mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 17g, Vitamin A: 387IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 65mg, Iron: 1mg
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Jennifer Maloney
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/about/
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originally published on Nov 11, 2015 (last updated Sep 10, 2021)
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384 comments on “Italian Pear Almond Cake”
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Carla Santoleri —Reply
Love this recipe. It was moist and delicious. Took it to a brunch last week and everyone really enjoyed it. Thank you for a wonderful recipe. I am going to try the Lemon glazed pound cake next. Thanks.Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Thanks so much, Carla! So glad you enjoyed it :)
Angela —Reply
Delicious – will be making this often..Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Thanks so much Angela!
Kirsten —Reply
Second time making this wonderful recipe – this time I did 1.5x quantity to suit 2x 6″ pans. I had some ageing pistachios so added those to the ground almonds, about 1/3 of the total volume. Also added a little sprinkle of cardamom and ginger for fun.
Thank you Jennifer for giving the measurements by weight – its so easy just to throw everything on the scales as I go.Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Sounds lovely, Kirsten. So glad you are enjoying this cake. Thanks!
Susan —Reply
How would I change this to make individual cakes, maybe in a muffin tin?
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi Susan, to start, you’ll have to cut the pear into chunks, rather than halves. Perhaps if the pears are small, you could slice and fan them out on top of the batter, but I think I would go with a jumbo muffin tin if you go that route. Obviously the baking time would be greatly reduced. I don’t know what the timing would be, as I haven’t done it myself. You’d have to just watch them continuously to know when they are done.
Jennevieve —Reply
I have made this twice. I also used almond flour and it turned out great. Also, the pears in my area must be huge because I could only fit 4 halves in the pan. Also, I slice the pears crosswise. It looks pretty and cooks all the way through. Delicious!Jennifer Maloney —Reply
So glad you enjoyed it, Jennevieve! Thanks so much :)
Zeba Basu —Reply
I have been making this recipe on repeat. It’s such a versatile recipe. I make this with almond flour(costco). I have use both all purpose flour and gluten free. I have made it with apples and pears. It never fails and never fails to impress.
Thank you Jennifer for sharing this recipe.Jennifer Maloney —Reply
I’m so glad you are enjoying it, Zeba :) Thanks so much!
Gayle —Reply
Hello Jennifer, just wondering … for convenience could I make this on Christmas Eve for Christmas Day Lunch? Should I leave it in the pan in the fridge? Thank you for your assistance. G
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi Gayle, I think it should hold up pretty well over-night and worth it not to be baking on Christmas morning, I think :) And yes, I’d probably leave it in the pan in the fridge. I’d take it out of the fridge a bit ahead to come to room temperature. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Antonella —Reply
Wonderful recipe. It’s always a hit!! I’ve also used GF flour and it works just as good as normal flour. 👏👏👏
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
So glad you enjoyed it, Antonella :) Thanks!
Adele —Reply
Can this be frozen?
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi Adele, I wouldn’t freeze this cake as a first option. The large amount of pears are likely to change texture after freezing. I would only freeze to preserve some left-overs, understanding the shift in texture.
Kirsten —Reply
Love it. Not too sweet, delicious with double cream, made an excellent end to a roast pork dinner.
My pan was slightly bigger so I cut the pear halves in half = 12 pieces, so I guess it turned out thinner but was fabulous nonetheless. I made it in the morning, and popped it in the turned-off oven after the roast came out – just perfect. Thanks for a lovely recipe.Jennifer Maloney —Reply
So pleased you enjoyed it, Kirsten :) Thanks so much!
Rachel —Reply
A great, easy, delicious cake to use up some pears. Smells so good while baking, too. I did use almond flour. Also I used a regular cake pan as I don’t have springforms, and I had no issues removing it from the pan. Will definitely make it again!Jennifer Maloney —Reply
So glad you enjoyed it, Rachel and good to know! Thanks :)
Colleen —Reply
This was delicious. But it took an awful lot of butter. There was a pool of melted butter on the floor of the oven that leaked out of the springform pan. I was just wondering if anyone tried reducing the amount of butter successfully. Definitely worth repeating, but if no one else comments, I may try again with less butter.
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi Colleen, I don’t recommend reducing the butter at all. It sounds like your springform pan is warped, as the butter shouldn’t be leaking out. I would try a new pan, or try wrapping the outside of the one you have tightly with aluminum foil before baking. And just to confirm that you used the correct amount of butter. It should be 1 stick + 1 Tbsp. for the 9 Tablespoons.
Rena —Reply
Can I use a combination of almonds slices on top but hazelnuts in the batter? What do you suggest?
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi Rena, Is there a reason you don’t want to use ground almonds in the batter? Ideally, I would recommend using the ground almonds, as specified. If you were to substitute, you would need to grind the hazelnuts down to cornmeal-like texture to substitute. And of course, the hazelnuts would introduce a different flavour profile to the cake.
A —Reply
This sounds like a lovely recipe. I wonder what would happen if I used almond flour instead of ground almonds?
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
Hi A, I think someone commented that they used almond flour (with success, I believe). This seems to be a very forgiving cake. I don’t recommend almond flour, simply because I haven’t tested it myself. If you’re adventurous, it’s worth a try :)
A —Reply
It worked out delicious with almond flour! Will be making it again. :)
Jennifer Maloney —Reply
So glad to hear! Thanks :)
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