Chocolate Pear Cake – chocolate and pears go really well together in this easy cake! This cake makes a perfect breakfast and dessert!
I made this chocolate pear cake quite a while ago and really liked it, even though never before have I combined chocolate cake batter and pears. As I luckily discovered, pears and chocolate cake work really well together in this easy-to-prepare, everyday cake. Especially if you have a couple of very ripe pears that you don’t know what to do with.
The original recipe called for caramelizing the pears and placing them on the bottom of the baking pan for an upside-down cake effect, but I didn’t want to caramelize the pears I had because they were too soft and overly ripe already.
Instead, I just placed chopped fresh pears on top of the cake batter, expecting the cake batter to rise evenly around the pears. The cake did rise around the pears, but in very select places as you can see for yourself on the photos. Still, the cake looked reasonably pretty, especially when dusted with confectionery sugar, and, what’s more important, tasted really good!
This chocolate pear cake recipe is good on many levels: it’s easy-to-make, it’s delicious, the chocolate cake texture is just right, and this dessert has fruit in it which is what I love. It’s one of those recipes I will definitely try again. Maybe next time, I’ll fold the pears directly into the batter (instead of putting them on top) or will use different fruit or berries.
Recipe Notes
- What baking pan to use? Use a 9×9 inch square pan or 9 inch round springform pan. If using a springform pan, line the bottom of the springform pan with a round piece of parchment paper.
- After your cake is baked, dust it with powdered sugar before serving: it will make this tasty cake look really pretty!
Pears and chocolate cake work really well together in this easy-to-prepare, everyday cake. Perfect breakfast or dessert recipe.
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces dark chocolate , chopped
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 pears ripe, peeled, cored, and chopped into large chunks
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9×9 inch square pan or 9 inch round springform pan. If using a springform pan, line the bottom of the springform pan with a round piece of parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt - mix to combine.
- Melt the butter and dark chocolate in a small bowl, using a microwave, or on a stove top in a small pan over low heat. Stir well.
- Transfer melted chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl, add granulated sugar, and, using electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed for a couple of minutes until the mixture is light in color. Add eggs and vanilla and continue beating to combine. Add flour mixture and milk, alternating between the two in two additions, into the chocolate mixture.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and place chopped pears on top of the cake batter. Alternatively, you can fold in chopped pears into the cake batter before adding the cake batter into the baking pan.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out reasonably clean and the cake bounces when touched.
- Cool on a wire rack for 15-30 minutes. If using springform pan, release the cake when completely cooled.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving: it will make this tasty cake look really pretty!
Adapted from Epicurious
Loved it. It was perfect. I will definitely make this again
So happy to hear that, Miriam. Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive comment!
I used chocolate fudge cake mix and added extra cocoa powder and it was perfect!
What went wrong?
I’m in the uk and used a conversion tool to g
The mixture was so stiff I couldn’t even mix it and it was a job to spoon into the tin. Not holding out much hope of it being edible when it comes out. Perhaps it doesn’t convert well.
I loved this! Excellent cake and the combo was perfect.
This was very dry and bland. I had the most delicious pear chocolate cake years ago, the recipe was similar, but something is missing. I’m going to add a chocolate glaze in hopes of salvaging this.
Delicious. I used 4 small pears in a 9X9 pan but may double the recipe and use a larger dish next time. My grandchildren thought it was so good. It didn’t last long. And so moist. Not sure what K. Walters did but they should try again.
Incredibly dry. The pears were good but completely overpowered by the chocolate.
I generally hate it when people leave comments when they’ve only just placed the cake in the oven, but I’ve never had a more mousse type batter all airy and fluffy and tastes delicious! I doubled the recipe and dumped it all into one bowl and did some sifting of the flour and cocoa powder! Can’t wait to see what it turns into! Thanks 🙂
Really nice recipe. I folded the pears into the dough. This is Now my go to recipe every time I have pears at home! Thank you for sharing the recipe. Super pleased!
Hi Julia, I’ve made it twice this week and the cake tasted really good. Adding pears to the chocolate cake is a genius idea! it soften the rich taste of chocolate and add freshness to it, which fits perfectly to my family. thank you for sharing this great recipe. hope you have a wonderful day!