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Pear Cake (Using Fresh Whole Pears – No Peeling Necessary)

Pear cake will be your number one recipe for using fresh pears! Use the whole pear because no peeling is necessary which makes it super easy, and incredibly delicious. Everyone will ask for the recipe!

pear cake slice on a knife

Get ready to bookmark this fresh pear cake recipe!

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pear cake slice with forkful of cake

What to do with lots of Pears?

Make pear cake! Once you make it once, you’re going to want to make this cake over and over again. How do I know? Because this recipe base which comes from this Sicilian whole orange cake is fabulous, no matter what fruit I use in it! 

Sicilian Whole Orange cake on a plate with oranges

Most recently, I tried the cake with fresh apples and oh boy, it was fantastic. In fact, it kind of went viral and was one of my top recipes right after I posted it. The apple cake was so good, it inspired me to try a pear cake! It has a fabulous texture and is incredibly moist! The other reason everyone loves it is because it’s so darned easy to make! No need to peel the fresh pears in this recipe (but do use organic fruit for this reason).

apple cake being cut
Apple cake.

Let me tell you, everyone who has tried the apple cake and the pear cake has raved about them! In fact, I recently made an apple and pear cake, using fresh apples and pears together (twice) and it was really good, too! I dropped one off for a friend and she said her family loved it and thanked me for the “amazing cake”!

piece of pear cake on a fork

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the only thing you’ll want to make with pears as they are such a magnificent (and I think, underappreciated) fruit. You may remember my mother’s poached pears in wine recipe, well, this cake is almost as easy!

poached pears in wine

Can you Freeze Pear Cake?

Yes, you can absolutely freeze this fresh pear cake, as I’ve frozen all the fruit cakes made using this recipe and it freezes exceptionally well! I wouldn’t keep it in the freezer longer than a month, though. 

pear cake slice

I’ve since added another pear cake to my site, this delicious honey pear cake!

Honey pear cake getting sprinkled with sugar

As you can see, my pears weren’t even close to being perfect, but the cake still tasted marvelous!

pears on a board

Let’s get to the recipe, shall we? You’re going to love it!

pear cake

Pear Cake

slightly adapted from my apple cake recipe         serves 10

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Make the Batter

Prepare an 8″ springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, only if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.

pear pieces in a food processor

In a food processor, or blender, process the pear pieces (do not peel unless they’re not organic) and lemon juice. My pears were quite soft, so this puréed result is fine.

pureed pears

Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.

Adding yogurt to pear Cake

Add the processed pears to the cake batter along with vanilla, and stir until evenly combined. 

adding pears to batter

That’s it, you’re done! Now pour the batter into the prepared pan.

pouring batter into pan

Bake the Pear Cake

batter in pan

Place the tin into the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the pear cake is done before removing from the oven. If desired, sprinkle lightly with some granulated, Demerara or raw sugar immediately. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan. 

pear cake in pan

Serve the Pear Cake.

Let cool before cutting and serving. 

pear cake slice on a knife

You can really taste the pear (don’t be tempted to add spices before making this recipe as written first). Nothing wrong with eating a slice while it’s still a wee bit warm!

bitten slice of pear cake

Or you can be more civilized and serve it on a plate with cutlery! 

pear cake slice with forkful of cake

Any way you serve it-it’s fabulous!

And one last pear recipe for you from my friend, Cynthia: Poire Belle Hélène (poached pears with chocolate).

pear cake slice on a knife

Pear Cake (Using Whole Pears - No Peeling Necessary)

Servings: 10
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
A super easy, yet delicious pear cake!
4.8 from 168 votes

Special Equipment

  • 1 8" springform pan
  • 1 food processor (or blender)
  • 1 cake tester

Ingredients

  • 3 large pears (organic)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ⅛ cup sugar
  • 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour (plain flour in the UK)
  • 2 ½ tsp baking powder or 1 packet Italian Paneangeli vanilla baking powder
  • cup butter softened
  • cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Instructions

Make the Pear Cake Batter:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)
  • Prepare an 8" springform pan by spraying with oil (or butter) and lining in parchment paper (sides optional, if you want really clean sides), then spray the paper, too.
  • Wash, core and cut the pear(s) into pieces.
  • In a food processor or blender, process the pear pieces and lemon juice until it is almost pureed. 
  • Place the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Sift the flour with the baking powder then add to the mixture in the bowl a little at a time along with the softened butter. Continue to mix until completely blended, then stir in the yogurt.
  • Add the processed pears and vanilla to the cake batter and stir until evenly combined.
  • Pour into prepared cake tin.

Bake the Cake:

  • Bake for 50-60 minutes (depending on your oven), but test with a cake tester or skewer to make sure the pear cake is done before removing from the oven. If desired, sprinkle lightly with some granulated sugar immediately. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then remove the side of the springform pan.
  • Let cool before cutting and serving. 
  • The cake can stand on its own, but you can also serve it with a fruit sauce, dollop of whipped cream, custard or vanilla ice cream. I prefer it plain with a cup of tea!

Notes

  • Do not peel, but remove the core/seeds pears should be just ripe, not overly ripe, or underripe
  • It's important to weigh ingredients in this recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 139mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 288IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg

Christina’s Cucina is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

4.83 from 168 votes (165 ratings without comment)

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76 Comments

  1. I made this today. It is absolutely delicious. I added the extra sugar n batter and tossed my pears in the brown sugar while mixing recipe. So good

  2. Solamente puedo decir que es una receta con resultado ¡ Espectacular! Hoy la hice usando las cantidades pesadas en gramos, quedó deliciosa y perfecta.

    1. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MARÍA’S COMMENT: I can only say that it is a recipe with spectacular results! Today I made it using the amounts weighed in grams, it was delicious and perfect.

      ¡Muchas gracias María! ¡Realmente aprecio tus comentarios! ¡Espero que también pruebes la receta original de naranja! ¡Disfrutar!

  3. Christina, what an interesting cake. So cool that the whole fruit, skin and all, is puréed into the batter. Now wonder the cake is so moist and perfectly textured. :-) ~Valentina

  4. You know, this was not what I pictured at all when I read the post title (“no peeling necessary”) and though whole pears were going to be sticking out of the cake! But this sounds amazing – and I have saved it and will get some pears this week at TJ’s (they have nice organic Bartletts!) and make it next weekend. Maybe even for Thanksgiving!

  5. I made this and it was so moist and delicious. I ate the whole cake myself except a few crumbs I shared with my dog. Last minute remembered there is this pesky family that needs to be fed too. LOL. Luckily I had bought some extra pears. Used them to make a second cake. All the family loved it. I didn’t tell them about the first cake. Thanks for this wonderful recipe.

  6. Hello Cristina.
    Will regular yogurt do? I always make my own Greek yogurt but just used the last of it for last nights dinner. I make my Greek yogurt with 6% MF Balkan style plain yogurt that has no additives or thickeners. I’m thinking since my plain yogurt is a fairly thick yogurt it should work in your recipe okay, although I wanted to be sure before I gave it a go.
    Thank you

    1. I’m sure it will since so many people have written in on all the versions of this recipe and substituted so many ingredients, all with fab results! It’s a fabulously versatile recipe. Let me know how it goes, Joycelyn!