Easy Pear Cake Recipe
A moist, lightly spiced pear cake sweetened with honey and fresh pears. No refined sugar, and great for breakfast or dessert.
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup olive oil, I use extra virgin, plus extra for pan
- 1 cup pure honey
- 5 cups freshly diced pears, peeled
- 3 cups white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour, plus extra for pan
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- Optional: Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting, or store-bought
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F with rack on lower middle position. Generously grease a bundt pan, followed by a sprinkling of flour on bottom/sides of pan; tap out excess flour from pan and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until bubbly. Stir in the oil and honey until combined. Add pears, folding just enough to combine.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Fold flour mixture gently together with the egg mixture, just until incorporated (do not over-mix). Batter will be thick. Use rubber spatula to transfer batter into greased/floured bundt pan.
- Bake 60-70 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with a few tender crumbs attached. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack. Run thin knife around edges to loosen, if needed. Turn pan upside down on serving platter and give it a few firm pats to remove cake. Serve as is or frost as desired.
- Run thin knife around edges to loosen, if needed. Turn pan upside down on serving platter and give it a few firm pats to remove cake. Serve as is or frost as desired.
Equipment
- Bundt Pan, 9.5"
Notes
- Substitutions: Go 50/50 white whole wheat and all-purpose flour for a finer crumb that still has whole grain. Canola or vegetable oil works in place of olive oil.
- Prep Ahead: Dice pears up to a day ahead and toss with a little lemon juice so they don’t brown. The cake tastes even better the day after baking.
- Storage: Cover and keep at room temperature up to 3 days, or wrap slices and freeze up to 2 months.
- Frosting: This cake is great plain. For a frosting with no refined sugar, beat 1 cup full-fat cream cheese and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (both room temperature) on medium-low until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in 4 tablespoons honey on low, then on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Chill to firm up if needed.
- For a fall brunch, serve it with our Blueberry French Toast Casserole.
- This recipe is part of our Cake and Cupcake Recipes collection.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Sodium: 298mg | Potassium: 145mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 18IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg