Pear Bundt Cake

This easy and simple recipe for a Pear Bundt Cake is anything but ordinary. The soft, tender inside and caramelized exterior are perfect. Step-by-step photos teach you how to bake this cake.

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As the years go on I absolutely have fallen in love with bundt cakes. My favorite pan to use is this Nordicware Brilliance Pan because of all of the ridges you can cut slices so easily.

My chocolate bundt cake is a friend's favorite and I modeled this pear bundt cake after this apple bundt cake recipe. While I do love layer cakes, making one layer that serves a crowd is just easier. During the Halloween season, I love to make this pumpkin bundt cake.

I chose not to frost this cake because I wanted a simple cake perfect any time of day, especially with a cup of tea. If you want a frosting then the brown butter frosting from my gingerbread bundt cake would be perfect or the toffee glaze from my apple bundt cake.

Ingredients

For this simple bundt cake you'll need:

• All-Purpose Flour/ Plain Flour. Make sure you measure your flour properly, it gives the cake the proper structure.

Baking is a science and to really achieve the best results I highly recommend investing in a kitchen scale. This OXO Kitchen Scale is the one I use and is also the number one recommended kitchen scale by Cook's Illustrated. Think about it -what one person scoops into a "cup" is completely different from what someone else scoops!

• Baking Soda. This will give the cake the lift and rising while baking. The sour cream is the acid that will activate the baking soda.
• Salt. Just a little bit is all required to help all of the other ingredients shine.
• Spices. Ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves give this cake a warm, delicious flavor. You could swap out one of those spices for ground ginger.
• Unsalted Butter. The butter gives the cake great flavor it just needs to be melted. 
• Vegetable Oil. Adding a little oil helps ensure the cake stays moist.
• Granulated Sugar. The sugar sweetens the cake and helps seal in the moisture and keep it soft. I chose not to use brown sugar but you could do half and half.
• Sour Cream. This ingredient needs to be at room temperature to properly incorporate into the rest of the batter. Sour cream adds creaminess, richness, and moisture to the cake.
• Large Eggs. Eggs give the cake structure and add richness. You want to make sure the eggs are at room temperature. You can do this quickly by placing them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before using.
• Pears. The pears are the star of the show, you'll want to chop them into small chunks. I use green pears that are ripe, not mushy!

If you like you can dust the cake with powdered sugar. Even adding half a cup of chopped pecans or walnuts to the cake batter would be delicious.

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and grease a 10-cup bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray, make sure to get every nook and cranny.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

In another large bowl whisk together the melted butter, vegetable oil, sugars, sour cream, and eggs.

Making sure to whisk until fully combined. 

Add the flour mixture and pears to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, over mixing can create a tough cake. 

Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Depending on the shape of your bundt pan your cake may be wider or taller, a wider cake pan will bake quicker than a taller bundt pan. Let cool in cake pan for 10 minutes then invert into a wire cooling rack.

Serve with a dusting of confectioner's sugar if desired. 

How to freeze

You can totally freeze the pear bundt cake. To freeze the cake let it cool completely then wrap in plastic wrap, tightly, then wrap it again. This helps avoid any freezer burn. Let the cake thaw on the counter overnight. You can also freeze individual slices of cake the same way. Wrap in plastic wrap tightly, twice, then store in a freezer-safe container like a plastic bag. To thaw let a slice sit on the counter at room temperature for a couple of hours.

More fruity dessert recipes

One of my favorite tart recipes is this pear custard tart.

Combining lemon and blueberry is always a good idea, especially when it's a lemon blueberry cheesecake recipe.

I love combining both chocolate and fruit, this chocolate raspberry cake recipe is a fam fave!

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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