Looking for a flourless cake that’s bursting with sweet flavors and keeping your taste bud coming back for more? This Pear Almond Cake has got your back! It’s soft and moist, loaded with ripe pears and almond flavor, and it is so easy to make.
This Pear Almond Cake is made entirely with almond flour, so my gluten-free friends, rejoice! You know how much I love my gluten, so this cake is really a game changer for me. It’s so delicious I could burst with happiness!
This cake really has it all, even in the regular cake universe.
✓ Super soft and moist: check!
✓ Bursting with flavor: check!
✓ Extremely easy to make: check!
✓ Keep you coming back for seconds: I promise!
✓ You can eat it for breakfast: why the heck not!
I need to thank my good friend Marie over at Sugar Salt Magic for introducing me to flourless cake with her Flourless Lemon Cake. It’s amazing and is the base for my almond pear cake. She also has a bunch of other flourless cake recipes you might want to check out!
How to make Pear and Almond Cake from scratch
Alrighty, let’s get to making this cake, shall we?
- Add softened butter and sugar to your stand mixer.
- Beat until light and fluffy. Best to use a stand mixer or an electric mixer for this since you need to beat it for a few minutes.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the extracts and pour it into the stand mixer bowl while the mixer is still going at reduced speed.
- Increase mixer speed and beat until completely incorporated.
- In another mixing bowl, stir together almond flour, salt and baking powder. Add this flour mixture to the wet ingredients.
- Mix until completely smooth.
➤ Many almond cake recipes call for beating the egg whites separately and then folding it into the batter to create volume. I tried it both ways and found that it doesn’t really make a difference. This recipe is super forgiving.
➤ You also don’t need to worry about overmixing and creating too much gluten which will result in a rock-hard cake, since this cake is made with gluten-free almond flour.
- Prepare the cake pan by brushing it with melted butter or spray with oil and line it with parchment paper per image 7. You could use a springform cake pan and just line the bottom.
- Add the almond cake batter and even out the top.
- Press the thinly sliced pears into the batter and sprinkle with sliced almonds if desired.
- Bake until golden brown.
➤ You don’t need to peel the pears but the skin will turn brown once baked. If you don’t like the look, you could peel it to make the cake more aesthetically pleasing.
Baker’s Tips
- Any variety of pears would work in this recipe, choose pears that are ripe but still firm. I used D’Anjou.
- I used finely ground blanched almond flour, but unblanched almond meal should also work in this recipe.
- This is a very thick cake as you can see from the photos, make sure it has cooled significantly if not completely before removing it from the pan. You don’t want to lift it out while it is still hot, it could break apart.
- I highly recommend using a springform cake pan, it will make removing the cake easier.
- Before removing the cake from the baking pan, take a butter knife and loosen the sides.
- You could also bake this in a 9” round cake pan or an 8”x8” square baking pan, the cake will be a little thinner in this case and may finish baking a little earlier so check for doneness sooner.
- This cake will puff up while baking and the top will settle flat when cooled. This is normal, but it should not sink or cave in.
Flavor variations
The sweet pear and almond extract go really well together in this cake. However, if you don’t have almond extract, or don’t want to use it, you can skip it and increase the vanilla extract in the recipe or try other flavors:
- Use citrus zest like orange or lemon instead of almond extract for a bright flavor that also pairs well with pears.
- You could also use spices in place of almond extract for a warmer holiday vibe. Try allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger or a mixture of these spices like an apple pie spice.
How to serve
I serve this pear cake simply with a dusting of powder sugar, but there are plenty of ways to spruce it up:
- Homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream is always a good choice for added creaminess and richness.
- If you want something a little different, a whipped mascarpone topping like the one on these Pistachio Cupcakes would be excellent.
- A drizzle of salted caramel or dulce de leche would also be a wonderful addition.
Storage
This cake will be covered at room temperature for 1 – 2 days, beyond that I recommend keeping it refrigerated, it will last up to a week.
I did not try freezing this cake, though I suspect the pears would get soggy once frozen and thawed. I do not recommend freezing.
More gluten free recipes
Pear Almond Cake
Equipment
- 8" Cake Pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (144 g)
- 4 oz unsalted butter (room temperature, 113 g)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 2 ½ cup almond flour (280 g, packed)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 medium pears (cored & sliced)
- 1 – 2 tablespoon sliced almonds (for topping, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Butter and line an 8” round cake pan with two long strips of parchment paper in a cross pattern (see photos in post for visual), allowing the excess to hang over the sides and one piece of round parchment paper to cover the bottom. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour, salt and baking powder until distributed evenly. Set aside.
- Beat together softened butter and sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer with the paddle attachment until fluffy. Lightly beat the eggs with vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl, and pour in a little at a time while the mixer is still going at reduced speed. Increase mixer speed and continue beating until fully incorporated.
- Add the almond flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Pour batter into the prepared cake pan. Add sliced pear and press them halfway into the cake batter. Sprinkle almond slices on top.
- Bake for 55 – 60 minutes until the center is no longer jiggly and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Note: around the 45 minutes mark, check to see if you need to tent the cake with a piece of foil so the top doesn’t burn.
- Remove the cake from the oven, place it on a wire rack and let it cool completely in the pan before removing it from the pan.
- Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.
Notes
- Any variety of pears would work in this recipe, choose ones that are ripe but still firm.I used D’Anjou.
- I used finely ground blanched almond flour, but unblanched almond meal should also work in this recipe.
- Other cake pans you can use for this recipe are:
- If you’re using a different size larger cake pan, make sure to check for doneness sooner.
Does the pear go in whole or halved?
I cut the pear away from the core and slice them thinly but keep the slices together so when you press them into the batter it looks like a full half.
This was an amazing cake. Everyone loved it! Thank you
Hello! Can I put some blueberries in this recipe?
You can if you want but I did not test the recipe with blueberries and they will add moisture to the cake, so you may need to adjust baking time.
Thanks so much for sharing my lemon flourless cake post. I’m so happy you love it too, its a winner. I cannot wait to try this pear almond cake. What a delicious combination and so perfect for any time.
Hello! Can I put some blueberries in this recipe?
You can if you want but I did not test the recipe with blueberries and they will add moisture to the cake, so you may need to adjust baking time.
Looks mouth-wateringly delicious. Can actually taste it when looking at the posted picture. LOL