By Feride Buyuran on November 3, 2010   /   Chocolate, Desserts, Pear   /   22 Comments

Pear season is in full swing in California. Chocolate season is always in full swing in the family. I combined the two and received this very chocolate-ful pear-ful cake that I wished could stay in season for the longest time. If you love moist cakes, then you will love this cake. Treat pears as your bonus, and a scrumptious one.

Chocolate Pear Cake
Adapted from Elra’s Baking

Makes one 9-inch (23-cm) cake

 

Ingredients

To Poach the Pears:
4 Bosc pears or Bartlett pears, or any hard-flesh pear (I used Bartlett pears, Elra used Bosc)
2 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar

For the Cake Batter:

4 oz (113 g) bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup almond meal (finely ground almond), or hazelnut meal, or a combination of both

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch process cocoa powder

1¼ tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt
4 oz (113 g) unsalted butter (leave at room temperature until soft)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (use 3/4 cup if you prefer a sweeter cake)
4 eggs, at room temperature

Directions:

First, poach the pears. Peal them, cut them in half, and core. In a medium saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Arrange the pear halves in the pan (you can toss in the clove or lemon rind  if you want to flavor the pears). Add more water if needed, to just cover the pears. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and, maintaining a gentle boil, simmer, until the pears are fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure the pears are not overcooked or they will be mushy in the cake. Remove the pear halves from the pan using a slotted spoon. Set aside to cool, while you prepare the cake batter.

Now, prepare the cake batter. First, melt the chocolate: Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often. Or, you can melt it in the microwave oven. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Butter the bottom of a  9-inch (23-cm) springform pan, line with parchment paper. Butter the paper as well. Coat the cake pan lightly with flour. Tap off the excess flour. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, using  a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the melted chocolate, beat on a low speed until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and beat for another minute (do not overbeat).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Arrange the slices of pear in a circle, hollowed sides down (see the picture below). Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes. I  baked mine for 35 and it was medium moist. 30  minutes should give you a super moist cake, if that’s what you want (my next goal). 40 minutes is good if you want your cake on a dry side. To check the cake for doneness, insert a skewer in the center of the cake and remove—it should come out with moist crumbs attached to it instead of being dry and clean. Remove the sides of the springform pan. Serve the cake warm or cooled. A dollop of ice cream on top of the still warm slice of cake should be delicious.

22 Comments

1. 

   burcu

   9:33 pm on November 3, 2010

   I love the first photo,simply perfect!

   Reply
2. 

   elra

   9:48 pm on November 3, 2010

   Hello Farida,
   I am so glad that you tried the recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know. This cake is one of my favorite and the one that I make pretty often.

   You have such a lovely blog Farida. Would love to learn more about Azeri’s cooking.

   Cheers,
   elra

   Reply
3. 

   Rosa

   11:23 pm on November 3, 2010

   A delicious looking cake! Chocolate and pear, a perfect combo…

   Cheers,

   Rosa

   Reply
4. 

   Natalya

   3:32 am on November 4, 2010

   Farida, I love the combination of pears with chocolate. Nigella Lwason has a great recipe of suck a cake. But in her recipe she use canned peaches.
   Yours looks so yummy !
   But could yopu please give the ingredients in grams ? Thanks!

   Reply
5. 

   Tamanna

   11:31 am on November 4, 2010

   looks very lovely! never thought pear and chocolate can taste good together, but this looks delicious

   Reply
6. 

   zerrin

   3:38 pm on November 4, 2010

   This looks just amazing! I love pear but never tried it in a chocolate cake, sounds yummy!

   Reply
7. 

   Nargiz

   7:49 am on November 5, 2010

   Looks yummy Farida!!

   What is the oz equivalent in gram?? I should taste it today!!!!

   ~Nargiz

   Reply
8. 

   FARIDA

   8:09 am on November 5, 2010

   Thank you for all your comments, friends.

   Elra, thank YOU for such a great recipe!

   Nargiz, will update the post with grams soon. Check back.

   Reply
9. 

   farida

   8:11 am on November 5, 2010

   NATALYA and NARGIZ: The grams and etc have been updated for you.

   Reply
10. 

    Tarlan

    8:21 am on November 5, 2010

    Dear Fardia,
    thanks for the new and interesting recipe!
    the amount of flour seems to be too low in compare with numbers of eggs and amount of butter!! how the texture of the cake?? is it spongy?

    Reply
11. 

    FARIDA

    8:30 am on November 5, 2010

    TARLAN: Thanks for your comment. The amounts are correct. The cake is moist and soft unless you bake it for 40 minutes (the longer you bake, the dried the cake gets).

    Reply
12. 

    Cynthia

    5:48 am on November 7, 2010

    I love fresh fruit in baked desserts. It is always such a treat to visit.

    Reply
13. 

    Nargiz

    3:28 am on November 8, 2010

    Dear Farida, I couldn’t wait, so baked it considering 1 oz= 30 grams 🙂 I had almond meal since Novrus holday, and didn’t know what to to with it 🙂
    To be honest I didn’t decorate it with pears, made a simple cake 🙂

    Thanks…

    ~Nargiz

    Reply
14. 

    PINAR

    5:13 am on November 8, 2010

    Mükemmel görünüyor, ellerine sa?l?k.
    Sevgilerimle….

    Reply
15. 

    Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen

    11:57 am on November 8, 2010

    You have such a knack for making dishes look so beautiful for the camera!

    Reply
16. 

    Alla

    7:22 pm on November 8, 2010

    Farida. Made the cake today. Came out delicious. Except didnt look like yours after baking, my pears seemed to sink in a bit and you could only a little circle od each pear top after baking. So moist and simple. Did you make your own almond meal? I couldnt find it at the store so I just put some almond slivers in a food processer, Do you think they were fine enough?

    Reply
17. 

    FARIDA

    8:44 pm on November 8, 2010

    ALLA: Glad you made the cake. Yes, I made my own almond meal in a food processor. Nothing fancy. Pulsed until it was very fine. They are supposed to turn into flour. If that was the case with yours, then you are fine.

    Reply
18. 

    Cherine

    12:59 am on November 9, 2010

    A wonderful cake!

    Reply
19. 

    Anu

    8:09 pm on November 10, 2010

    This is just beautiful looking. I love anything chocolate of course and wish I had this in front of me now!

    Reply
20. 

    Jane

    12:03 am on August 16, 2011

    I just made a half quantity in a loaf pan. Very nice! Thankyou.

    Reply
21. 

    Chocolate Cake Blog

    10:21 pm on January 2, 2013

    Looks great. I’m going to have to make this cake! Cheers

    Reply