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!
Chocolate pear cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces dark chocolate , chopped
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk
- 3 pears ripe, peeled, cored, and chopped into large chunks
Instructions
- 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!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, because I love pears and chocolate. Can I substitute canned pears for the fresh pears?
Kelly, yes, you can! I used very ripe pears in this recipe, so canned ones will work great! Just drain them well off any excess liquid. Enjoy and Happy New Year! ❤️
The flavour was okay but the cake was very dry. Ive read that cocoa and bakig soda can do that to a cake so I would suggest upping the butter ratio.
Julia, thank you for your helpful feedback! 🙂
I love this recipe! Merci! I reminds me of a cake my grandma used to make back in France when i was a kid!
Natacha, I am so flattered by the comparison to your grandma in France. The French make the best desserts - I know that because I lived there for 2 months several years ago! ❤️
Thank you for this lovely recipe. Although my pear wasn’t ripe, it is still so good. I cant imagine how it would be if it was ripe! It would be surely wonders! Love from Turkey.
Derya, I am so thrilled to have followers from all over the world! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this cake - and thank you for your comment! I love reading feedback. ❤️❤️
I wonder if banana chunks would work with this recipe? My pears are not at all ripe!
Thanks!
Joni, I think banana chunks would work well, especially if bananas are not overly ripe.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I got a bit confused as to how I was supposed to beat a mixture that had melted dark chocolate in it until it was light in colour - is this a typo?
I think when you beat the chocolate mixture with granulated sugar - it does get lighter in color - not super light, but lighter. I hope you give this recipe a try! 🙂
Hi Julia , I made this recipe today and I found the batter to be super thick. Is it supposed to be like that or is this recipe may be incorrect?
Thanks, Aneta
Aneta, the batter is not supposed to be very thick. Here are my recommendations:
- When you measure flour using cups, make sure not to pack flour too dense in a measuring cup, otherwise, you will end up with much more flour than you need, and, therefore, the cake will come out denser. Measuring flour correctly will solve a lot of "dense" issues. The trick that works for me is that I use 1/4 measuring cup to carefully scoop all flour I need into 1 cup measuring cup, fluffing it up and aerating it, over the mixing bowl, without over-packing it. So, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, I use a 1/4 measuring cup about 3 or 4 times as described above to scoop the flour into 1 measuring cup until it's full, and doing it this way you will often realize that you either have to use 1/4 measuring cup 3 times, or when you use it 4th time, you fill it only half full.
- Alternatively, you can sift the flour.
- Another way would be to weigh flour, which I don't do, but it's a solution.
I tried this recipe today. It tasted wonderful. However, the batter was really thick and so I added some more milk. I also only had an 8 x 8 inch pan. It took longer to bake and was a bit dry. I would add more butter to the recipe and more milk next time, and try a small amout of candied ginger, which I think would complement the pear and the chocolate.
Jennifer, I am so sorry to hear about that. This can be avoided by aerating the flour. Here are my recommendations for the next time:
- When you measure flour using cups, make sure not to pack flour too dense in a measuring cup, otherwise, you will end up with much more flour than you need, and, therefore, the cake will come out denser. Measuring flour correctly will solve a lot of "dense" issues. The trick that works for me is that I use 1/4 measuring cup to carefully scoop all flour I need into 1 cup measuring cup, fluffing it up and aerating it, over the mixing bowl, without over-packing it. So, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of flour, I use a 1/4 measuring cup about 3 or 4 times as described above to scoop the flour into 1 measuring cup until it's full. Doing it this way you will often realize that you either have to use the smaller 1/4 measuring cup 3 times or when you use it for the 4th time, you fill it only half full or even less.
- Alternatively, you can sift the flour.
- Another way would be to weigh flour, which I don't do, but it's a solution.
Yeah - I tried that aerating of the flour; but the batter is just still too thick. There is definitely a miss in the combination of dry and wet ingredients. Also, if I make this again, I will just melt the chocolate and butter in the larger bowl rather than move it from a smaller bowl into the larger bowl where more ingredients are going to be added anyway.
Ronnie, if the batter is still too thick, I would use 1/4 cup less of flour next time.
I would swap out butter for oil,an oil cake is nearly always more moist than a butter made cake,I chucked in some crushed hazelnuts,and made a ganqche for the top
Great advice, Terry, thank you for chiming in! ❤️❤️
Was wondering if you think it would be okay to sub the milk with red wine? I wanted to make a red wine cake but when I saw the addition of the pears to this recipe I was intriqued. Thoughts?
Lisa, I think you can turn this into a red wine cake by using red wine instead of milk and following the recipe as is. It sounds super interesting and delicious! I will be trying this myself!
Dear Julia what is all purpose flour,is it perchance self raising flour?
Thanking you in anticipation......cheers Jimmy
Jimmy, this recipe uses all-purpose flour which is different from self-rising flour.
all purpose flour is the american equivilant the english plain flour
Samantha, thank you for the tip!
Hi, thanks for this recipe, which looks great. I don't have any dark chocolate on hand, but I do have bittersweet bars. Can I use them as a substitute? Thanks!
Yes, those should work just fine!
I'm going to make this cake today 28th November, for my husband's birthday. The big juice pear I will use comes from the ancient pear tree next to our kitchen door here in Normandy France . Amazing to think this pear comes from the pretty blossom that graced the tree last spring.
Kim, the way you described your pear tree is so poetic - love it! 🙂 Very jealous that you have your own pear tree - I love pears and eat them all the time as a snack!
I retired and then about 6 months later COVID hit. Like a lot of other people, judging from the flour shelf at the supermarket, I decided to try baking bread and it has taken off from there. Much to the surprise of everybody in my family, I seem to be pretty good at this.
I have a friend in town whose single pear tree produces a truckload of pears and he's always happy to give them away. Melina's comment here captured my attempt because his pears are nice, but don't have much of a pear flavor.
Your receipe was easy to follow and the result is certainly a family pleaser! Thanks very much for taking the time to post this!
Shane, your comment truly made my day! I love when there is a story shared behind making each recipe - and I love your story. Glad the recipe was enjoyed! And thank you for taking the time to share this wonderful comment!