This Almond Flour Pear Cake has light, fluffy texture, a moist crumb, and warmly spiced essence for a seasonally delicious dessert! Make it for everyday living or special occasions alike.
And the most underrated fruit award goes to… wait for it… the pear!
When compared to the outrageous flavor of pineapple, I can see how the flavor volume-turned-down pear just can’t compare.
However, when pears are turned into Healthy Pear Crumb Bars, Cardamom-Spiced Pear Crumble, or this lovely pear cake, they transform into a soft, buttery canvas for warm spices.
A buttery canvas for warm spices is about 98% of what I care about during the fall and winter baking season!
This dreamy moist upside down pear cake features gooey spiced pears atop a luxurious fluffy cake.
Ideal for those who prefer fruit desserts, it is an excellent placement for the fall fruit!
Make it to enjoy with friends and family for any daily occasion and for special occasions alike. I love the thought of employing it as a holiday dessert for those who aren’t fond of pies or pumpkin.
One of my favorite parts about this recipe is the ease of preparation. I simply whiz all of the ingredients for the cake up in a blender, soften up the pears in a saucepan and assemble.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for this easy pear cake recipe. The great news is the full list of ingredients is available at most major grocery stores and all natural food stores.
Almond Flour Pear Cake Ingredients:
Almond Flour: Taking the place of regular all purpose flour, I like using finely ground almond flour for a fluffy texture and moist crumb.
Why use almond flour? I love it as a gluten-free alternative, and I find almond flour cakes always turn out rich, moist, and have incredible texture.
Fresh Pears: The star of the show here! We need two medium-sized bosc pears or 1 to 2 large bartlett pears. The fruit is used as a lovely topping for this delicious pear upside down cake.
Use ripe pears that are still firm for the best results. They shouldn’t be very hard but should be nice and ripe for optimal texture and sweetness.
Eggs: We need a whopping three eggs for this almond flour pear cake recipe due to the fact that almond flour needs a little extra assistance in the leavening department.
I don’t recommend replacing the eggs with flax eggs or any other egg replacer.
Avocado Oil: Bringing the tender crumb feature to this moist cake recipe, we need a little fat in the form of oil or butter.
I like using avocado oil because it has a neutral flavor and contains a decent amount of omega-3 fatty acids, but melted butter works too. Be sure to use unsalted butter if you’re choosing the melted butter route.
Pure Maple Syrup: Used to sweeten both the cake and the pear topping, we use pure maple syrup.
I love the extra flavor pure maple syrup brings to this delicious recipe because it adds to the rustic fall vibe of the cake.
Pure Vanilla Extract & Almond Extract: A splash of vanilla and almond extract add warm nuance to the cake.
If you don’t enjoy the almond flavor, you can skip it but I find it contributes great things to the dessert.
Lemon Juice: A little lemon juice helps neutralize the baking soda for the proper chemical reaction to leaven the cake. You can also use vinegar or lime juice.
Ground Cinnamon and Ground Nutmeg: The combination of cinnamon and fresh nutmeg brings that warmly-spiced essence we all love so dearly in fall and winter desserts.
If you have pumpkin spice on hand, you can replace them with pumpkin spice.
Baking Soda: The leavening agent here, baking soda helps the cake rise and ensures it bakes evenly.
Sea Salt: A pinch of sea salt enhances all of the flavors, bringing out the subtle palate.
Looking for ways you can customize this easy pear cake recipe? Here are some ideas.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Replace the avocado oil with 6 tablespoons of melted butter.
- Save time by skipping the pear softening process and simply place pear slices on top of the cake batter prior to baking.
- Sprinkle the top of the cake batter with sliced almonds prior to baking for a little nutty crunch. You can also mix chopped walnuts into the batter.
- Swap the pure maple syrup for brown sugar in both the cake and the topping. Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pear topping mixture if using brown sugar.
- Replace the oil with 1/3 cup of sour cream for some added tang.
- Add lemon zest from 1 to 2 lemons for some citrus tang.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the cake if desired.
Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients for pear cake, let’s bake it!
How to Make Almond Flour Pear Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease or spray the sides of the pan with cooking oil.
Peel the pears and slice them into ¼-inch thick slices.
Place the pear slices in a medium-sized saucepan along with the rest of the topping ingredients (3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, ground cinnamon, and sea salt).
Heat over medium-high heat and stir occasionally, until the juicy pears have softened slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the softened pears to the bottom of the pan and arrange them in a circular design, or however you’d like them to look.
Transfer all of the ingredients for the cake batter to a high-powered blender and blend on low speed to medium-low speed until a smooth batter has formed.
Note: if you don’t have a quality blender, use a mixing bowl. To do so, mix the wet ingredients together in a large bowl by hand or with an electric mixer. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix the flour mixture and the wet ingredients together until a smooth batter forms.
Pour the cake batter over the pears and spread it into an even layer using a rubber spatula.
Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake tests clean.
A great way of telling whether or not a cake is fully baked is by taking its internal temperature. Simply insert a digital thermometer into the center of the cake. If it is 190 degrees or higher, it is ready!
Remove the cake from the oven and let cake cool to room temperature. Release the cake from the cake mold.
Turn it over onto a large plate or a cake stand and carefully remove the parchment paper from the top. Now, the spiced pears should be showing their glory!
Slice pear cake and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Storage Instructions:
- Room Temperature: Cover the cake in plastic wrap and keep it on the counter for up to 3 days.
- Refrigerator: Transfer the leftover cake to an airtight container and refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Slice the remainder of the cake into individual slices and store them in a large zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
FAQ’s:
- What if I don’t have a springform pie pan? You can still make the recipe! Use a regular 8-inch round or 8-inch square baking pan. You can proceed with trying out the upside down cake version, or place the pear topping on top of the cake batter.
- Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour? Coconut flour is much more absorbent than any other flour, requiring more liquid and more eggs. For this reason, coconut flour cannot be used as a 1:1 replacement for almond flour in any recipe, including this one.
- Can I use cassava flour? I have found cassava flour works well as a 1:1 replacement for almond flour, but can be slightly more absorbent. For this reason, I’d use 2 and ¼ cups.
- What is the best egg-free alternative? I don’t recommend making this recipe without eggs. Grain-free recipes require eggs due to the lack of starch, or else they turn out very dense with a “raw” like consistency.
And that’s it! The next time you’re craving a fruity spiced cake, whip up this easy gem.
It’s a great recipe for pear season and a perfect option for holiday gatherings for those who aren’t into pies.
If you enjoy almond flour cake recipes, also try these gems.
More Almond Flour Cake Recipes:
- Almond Flour Lemon Cake
- Healthy Paleo Apple Cake
- Grain-Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Almond Flour Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
- Paleo Blueberry Cake
- Almond Flour Raspberry Cake
Pear desserts, let’s go!
Almond Flour Pear Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Pear Cake
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup avocado oil *
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice or cider vinegar
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon **
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg optional
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Pear Topping
- 2 bosc pears peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease or spray the sides of the pan with cooking oil.
- Peel the pears and slice them into ¼-inch thick slices. Place the pear slices in a medium-sized saucepan along with the rest of the topping ingredients (3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, ground cinnamon, and sea salt). Heat over medium-high heat and stir occasionally, until the juicy pears have softened slightly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the softened pears to the bottom of the pan and arrange them in a circular design, or however you’d like them to look.
- Transfer all of the ingredients for the cake batter to a high-powered blender and blend on low speed to medium-low speed until a smooth batter has formed. Note: if you don’t have a quality blender, use a mixing bowl. To do so, mix the wet ingredients together in a large bowl by hand or with an electric mixer. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix the flour mixture and the wet ingredients together until a smooth batter forms.
- Pour the cake batter over the pears and spread it into an even layer using a rubber spatula.
- Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake tests clean.
- A great way of telling whether or not a cake is fully baked is by taking its internal temperature. Simply insert a digital thermometer into the center of the cake. If it is 190 degrees or higher, it is ready!
- Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool to room temperature. Release the cake from the cake mold. Turn it over onto a large plate or a cake stand and carefully remove the parchment paper from the top. Now, the spiced pears should be showing their glory!
- Slice pear cake and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Notes
Nutrition
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I really liked the simplicity of a gluten free snack or coffee cake, and instead of fresh pear slices I used dried fruits I had on hand. Dried pear and sugared ginger cubes with walnuts turned out fabulous.
My minor complaint was that the cake had very little lift to it. Next time I would add the step to separate eggs, beat the whites to soft peaks for added height and fold into the remainder.
Delicious cake! I only have a 10″ springform and worried it wouldn’t come out well, but it was fine. The fruit side looks great on a serving plate. Not too sweet, very light.