This easy vegan pear cake is moist, delicious and simple to make. With pear puree in the batter, and pear slices on top for extra fruitiness!
We love to make vegan cakes with seasonal fruits here at Vegan on Board. So now for pear season, we've developed this easy vegan pear cake.
This cake is generously topped with pear slices that turn smooth and creamy when cooked. It also has just a tiny bit of fiery ginger, which goes so well with the pear flavour and adds a warm kick.
Our secret to fruity vegan cakes is fruit puree in the batter. It makes them moist, which is especially important when you are baking without eggs.
And to use pears both in the batter and as topping is the perfect way to add some extra fruity flavour.
We've used this trick before in our summery vegan apricot cake as well as our rustic vegan apple cake, which is perfect to use windfall apples.
So, let’s get cooking this easy vegan pear cake!
Ingredient tips
Here’s what you’ll need:
Pears - For the puree especially, you’ll want to use a pear that is fully ripe, soft and juicy. You might like to look for varieties such as Bartlett/Williams or Comice. We usually use organic pears and don’t peel them. However you can peel them if you prefer.
Vegan butter or spread - We particularly like Naturli block and Flora Plant Butter. Vegan margarine works as well.
Sugar - We use caster or regular vegan sugar for the batter, and a coarse sugar such as demerara to sprinkle on top of the cake. This adds a note of caramel to the pears on top.
Plain or all purpose flour - When baking we recommend you weigh your ingredients for best results. If you only have US cups, then use the spoon and level method to measure your flour.
Vanilla extract
Baking powder
Ground ginger - The flavour of ginger pairs so well with pears and it adds a gentle heat and zing to the cake.
Step by step
You'll find the full recipe and amounts below, but here's a handy visual overview of how to make this vegan pear cake.
Step 1 - Blend one of the pears, stem and core removed, into pear puree.
Step 2 - Cream together the vegan butter and sugar.
Step 3 - Add and mix in the pear puree.
Step 4 - Combine with flour, baking powder and ground ginger into a thick batter.
Step 5 - Spread the batter in a springform or regular cake tin, top with the sliced pear and a sprinkle of sugar.
Step 6 - Bake at 180℃ (355℉) for about 45 minutes until golden brown and done, let cool down - and enjoy!
Variations and substitutions
We haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this cake, but if you want to try it we'd suggest a commercial gluten free flour blend containing xantham gum as a 1 to 1 replacement for the plain/all purpose flour.
Instead of ground ginger, you can use cinnamon for a change.
It won’t taste so much of pears, but you could swap the pear puree for applesauce if you want.
Use almond extract in place of vanilla, for extra rich flavour.
And why not try adding some lemon zest to the batter?
Serving & storage
A dusting of vegan icing sugar is a lovely addition before serving.
We also love a slice of this vegan pear cake served warm with a side of vegan vanilla ice cream or homemade custard for dessert.
For storage, transfer the leftover cake to an airtight container and store in a cool place. If you keep it in the fridge, bring to room temperature before serving.
This cake or individual slices can also be well wrapped and frozen for up to three months.
More seasonal vegan recipes
We hope you enjoy our vegan pear cake. We invite you to try these other seasonal recipes too!
- For another stunning pear recipe, try our Vegan Chocolate Pear Cake made with whole pears.
- For a lovely fall breakfast, make our Vegan Apple Pancakes
- And for a cosy autumnal dinner, give our Vegan Pumpkin Gnocchi a go!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pear Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (112 g, 1 stick) vegan butter
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar white or golden
- ½ cup (120 g) pear puree from about 1 ripe pear
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cup (156 g) flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 medium pear sliced, for topping
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F).
- To make the pear puree for the batter, wash and cut the pear into quarters and remove the core and stem. Blend into a fine puree, using a jug and stick blender or food processor.We don't usually peel the pears for this recipe, but you can if you prefer to.
- In a mixing bowl, cream the vegan butter and sugar, then add and mix in the pear puree and vanilla extract.½ cup (112 g, 1 stick) vegan butter, ½ cup (100 g) sugar, ½ cup (120 g) pear puree, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the flour, baking powder and ground ginger. Use a spoon to combine everything into a thick batter.1¼ cup (156 g) flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Transfer the batter into a 18cm (7 inch) greased springform tin and spread it out evenly.
- Wash and quarter the pear for topping, remove the stem and core. Cut each quarter into thin slices and arrange them on top of the cake.1 medium pear
- Sprinkle on the demerara sugar onto the pear topping.1 tablespoon demerara sugar
- Bake the cake at 40-45 min at 180°C (355°F), or until a cake tester, stuck into a pear-free bit of the cake, comes out clean, without batter residue.
Notes
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
Méabh says
I'm going to give this a go using tinned pears for the purée, but I wonder if they might be too wet as they're already cooked? Might have to adjust the measurements accordingly.
Sophie and Paul says
I think as long as you drain the tinned pears well the puree will be quite similar to fresh. If it seems that the puree is very wet/watery, you could add a lower amount of puree at first, and then see what the batter looks like after you have added the flour. It should be quite a thick batter as you can see from the step by step pictures in the post. You could then add more puree if it seems too thick. Hope that helps and let us know how it goes! Sophie 🙂
Helen says
Thank you for this great recipe, I am about to make it for the 4th time! I didn’t have enough pears to make pear purée so used apple instead and it’s still delicious.
Sophie and Paul says
That's so lovely to hear Helen! Delighted you love our recipe - we love to use fruit puree in our cakes because it gives such a great flavour and texture, so I'm glad to hear that apple worked out perfectly too!