Go Back
+ servings
slice of pear ckae on a white plate with a silver fork
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Pear Cake

Pear Cake with caramelized whole pears, brown sugar streusel topping, and sweet cream cheese filling is an elegant and delicious coffee cake for fall.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Additional Time30 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course: Cakes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pear cake
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 297kcal
Author: Barbara Bakes LLC

Ingredients

STREUSEL:

  • ¼ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons butter chilled
  • ¼ walnuts chopped

CINNAMON SUGAR:

  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

PEAR LAYER:

  • 3 ripe pears - should be ripe but firm not mushy (½ of one pear will be used for dicing, the remaining halves will be placed on top of coffee cake)

CAKE LAYER:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoons salt
  • ¼ cup butter room temperature
  • cup sugar
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • cup peeled and diced pear

CREAM CHEESE LAYER:

  • 8 oz package cream cheese room temperature
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 egg room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9 inch springform pan.
  • Prepare Streusel Topping: Combine flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Add butter and use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in butter until mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in nuts.
  • Prepare Cinnamon Sugar: Combine all ingredients and mix in a small bowl.
  • Prepare Cream Cheese Filling; In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg, flour, and vanilla and mix just until blended.

Prepare pears:

  • Peel, cut in half, core, and de-stem the pears.
  • Dice one half of one pear for the cake batter.
  • Lay remaining halved pears cut side down on a cutting board. Slice each pear half in slices from top to bottom (refer to picture in post if needed).
  • Cover pears with plastic wrap until ready to use to prevent browning.

Prepare Cake:

  • Place flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  • With mixer on low speed add in the egg and sour cream. Add vanilla and mix on medium speed until blended. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
  • With mixer on low speed add in flour mixture, mix just until blended.
  • Stir in diced pears.
  • Pour batter into prepared pan. Batter is thick, use an offset spatula to spread out in pan, making sure to spread batter all the way to edges of pan.
  • Pour cream cheese filling on top of cake.
  • Using a knife, slide it under the sliced pear halves and gently place them on top of the cream cheese filling one by one. Make sure to place the thicker end of the pear towards the edge of the pan and the skinnier part towards the center of the pan. NOTE: Pears may slightly sink into cream cheese filling, this is fine.
  • Sprinkle streusel between the pears and in the center of the cake. NOTE: It's okay if a little of the streusel covers the pears.
  • Sprinkle top of the cake with cinnamon sugar making sure to coat pears generously.
  • Place springform pan on a cookie sheet for baking.
  • Bake 60 min to 65 min. The center should not be jiggly, baked cream cheese filling will bounce back when gently pressed on.
  • Let cool 30-45 minutes, edges of the cake should release from the sides of the pan as it cools. To be safe run a knife around the edge of the pan before removing the cake from the pan.
  • Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.


Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 192mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 22g