by Texas Homesteader ~
Pears are one of my favorite fresh fruits. Although I don’t have a producing pear tree yet, when it’s pear season I often have friends that offer for me to pick some of their fresh pears.
There are many ways I can preserve them for later, but I use them fresh for snacking or cooking. This pear cake is a favorite – all moist & cinnamonny. A true taste of fall!
Jump to Recipe
Ways To Preserve Fresh Pears
I’ve been allowed to harvest from several friend’s trees around town so I’ve been making and canning lots of pears. From RancherMan’s favorite Pear Preserves as well as my fave: Pears in Light Syrup.
We’ll enjoy them all winter long. And some jars of those home-canned goodness could also end up in some of our Homemade Christmas Baskets this year.
But a friend mentioned she had several pears that were given to her and she was going to make a pear cake with them. I’d never even heard of pear cake, and I wasn’t sure I was even tempted by the thought.
But a couple of days later I met up with her and she mentioned that she’d made the pear cake. Then she asked if we wanted to try it.
Hummm… Pear cake?? Sure, I guess…
WOW – it was amazing! All cinnamon & spice fall-tasting deliciousness with soft chunks of pear. And RancherMan went crazy over it too.
So of course I wanted to make my own pear cake for him. Thankfully my friend shared her recipe with me (thanks Sue!)
Adjusting The Recipe
Now I amended her handwritten recipe since it didn’t indicate what size pan to bake it in. (although she did tell me that a tube pan would be appropriate.)
Plus since it was plenty moist with all that fruit included I substituted the oil in her recipe with applesauce. I also reduced the amount of nuts and also added a bit of vanilla.
So I’ll share the recipe as I amended it. RancherMan says it’s delicious and it’s a KEEPER!
Mixing The Cake
First I washed several ripe pears and chopped & cored 4 cups worth. My friend told me I didn’t even need to peel the pears so I didn’t. But I suppose if your pear skins are thick & russeted you might want to peel them to reduce that resulting texture in your cake.
Then I used a fork to mix up 2 eggs in a small measuring cup & poured them over the chopped pears. I used my big honkin’ rubber spatula to mix everything together.
To my 4 cups of chopped pears & 2 eggs I added:
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1/2 cup Homemade Applesauce
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 cup of chopped nuts
I simply stirred with my spatula after each ingredient was added. That’s all there is to it y’all!
Baking The Pear Cake
Then I greased & floured a 10″ tube pan and poured in the batter. I baked the cake in a 350 degree F. oven for 1 hour.
I allowed the cake to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan before inverting the tube pan onto a plate to release the cake and allow it to completely cool.
Then I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top just to make it prettiful and served up a warm slice to RancherMan. His verdict? DELICIOUS!
These Cakes Freeze Beautifully
Since my friend told me these cakes freeze beautifully I’ll also make one for the freezer. That way I’ll have a homemade cake ready for unexpected company.
What a delicious way to use up those fresh pears of the season!
Fresh Pear Cake
Do you find yourself with a bundle of those fresh delicious pears? Make pear cake. It's surprisingly moist & delicious! #TexasHomesteader
Ingredients
- 4 Cups Chopped Fresh Pears (peeled if the skin is tough)
- 2 Eggs, Beaten
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Applesauce
- 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
- 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Cup Chopped Nuts
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
-
Gently fold ingredients in order given, stirring after each addition with a large spoon or spatula (do not beat with mixer). Batter will be thick.
-
Pour into a well greased and floured 10" tube pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
-
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert tube pan onto a plate to release cake, then allow to cool completely. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top for garnish if desired.
Fresh Pear Delights:
- Pear Sauce (like applesauce but with pears)
- Pears Canned In Vanilla Syrup
- Sweet-n-Savory Pear Relish
- Fresh Pear Preserves
Other Easy Desserts
- Depression-Era CRAZY CAKE – No Butter, Eggs or Milk
- Homemade Peach Cobbler
- Easy Instant Pot Cheesecake
- Apple Crumble QUICK With Pie Filling
- Fast Dessert: Spiced Rum Fried Apples
- Pumpkin Bread (with Cake-Mix Shortcut)
- Healthier Banana Bread Recipe
- Rich, Chocolaty Homemade Brownies
- Healthier Sweet Potato Chocolate Brownies
- Chocolate Pudding In A FLASH
- Banana Pudding – A Hug From The South
- Cherry-Pie Tortilla Rolls
- Cantaloupe Bread w/Pecan Praline Glaze
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Easy Homemade Shortcake
- Strawberry Shortcake Dessert
- Easy Homemade Peach Ice Cream
- Healthier ‘Ice Cream’ Using Bananas & Fruit
- Easy Cookies-n-Cream Ice Cream Cake
- Homemade Honey Graham Crackers
- Cake-Mix Cookies – Only 3 Ingredients!
- 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Banana Chunk Cookies
- Sugar-Free Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
- Triple Chocolate Truffles
- Rich & Creamy Hot Cocoa
- Chocolate-Covered Rice Krispie Treats
-
Dessert Toppings
- No-Cook Chocolate Frosting
- Stir-n-Pour Drizzle Chocolate
- Quick Homemade Whipped Cream
- Easy Honey Glaze
- Homemade Whipped Cream (Sweetened With Honey)
- Cherry Pie Filling From Frozen Cherries
- Peach Pie Filling From Canned Peaches
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I would love to try this cake!
I’ve never had pears in cake-sounds great!
Thanks
Michelle
I love pears in my recipes but dislike eating them fresh. Isn’t that strange? Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
I’ve never had a pear cake before. However, I love pears and I love cake so this HAS to be good! Thanks so much for sharing at Share The Wealth Sunday!
xoxo
Lisa
Now that’s a lovely pear cake recipe. What delicious photos!
Wishing you a beautiful day…
Brenda
Can you please give an approximation of how many pears would make 4 cups? Thank you in advance for your reply.
Hummm… I made this cake with tiny eensy pears Tammy, and it took probably about 12 of them to make 4 cups. The other pears shared with me by a sweet friend were much larger and it would only take about 5-6 of them I’d think. I guess it all depends upon how big your pears are. Give this recipe a try and here’s a secret – DANG this cake is even better on day 2! ~TxH~
This looks so good. Bookmarking to make later.
This sound delicious! The next time my kids leave behind some squishy pears I will have to make this one.
Looks ‘Oh, Sooooo Good’. Bet it’s nice and moist as well.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
If you use the ‘Pan Release’ mixture to grease your pans, no need to flour and you won’t have the flour coating on your baked cakes. (saves a step when you don’t have to flour the pan). Just using a pastry brush and coat the pan well your cakes come out of the pan perfectly.
Recipe would also be great made into muffins as well. But a little crumb topping on top and bake; adjusting the time of course.
Yes Colleen, my friend & I were talking about that too, and that it would shorten the baking time (a good thing if it’s still on the warm side) but I never thought about a crumb topping. That sounds amazing! ~TxH~
It really is a moist cake Colleen with all that fruit. The substitution of the applesauce made it a little more cake-textured than my friend’s version but that worked for us. I substituted the applesauce to reduce calories plus I’ve got my own homemade applesauce on the shelves that I made so I could substitute for oil in baking. I also cut the measurement of nuts in half to just 1 cup to reduce both calories as well as cost of the recipe. Since there are just 2 of us here I don’t often bake cakes, but I’d forgotten about the ‘Pan release’ thing, thanks for the reminder. I was able to take my pastry brush & brush off any residual white the flour left behind. ~TxH~
That sounds really good. I don’t have access to home grown pears, but the stores have plenty. My good friend makes a fresh pear pie that is to die for. I don’t know the recipe, but it has a creamy (like cheese cake) filling with all the pear slices. I’ve got to ask her to make me another one soon. – Margy