Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake
I’ve got one more chocolatey dessert to share with you before Valentine’s Day. This recipe has been on my “to make” list for over a year. I first saw it on Smitten Kitchen and it’s actually the reason I bought my springform pan! I have no idea why it took me so long to finally make (meanwhile, that springform pan came in pretty handy for a number of other recipes!), but as soon as I took my first bite, I knew this recipe was worth the wait.
The cake is made with browned butter which gives it a great deep flavor. The chunks of pears and bittersweet chocolate combine perfectly to add a subtle extra sweetness to the already rich cake. For some reason it seems a little more “upscale” than my usual desserts, like it needed a special occasion for me to make it. I finally ended up making this cake after Mike came home from a business trip a few weeks ago and it was the perfect homecoming cake. Served with plenty of lightly sweetened whipped cream, we both loved this cake, and it didn’t last long in our house! If you’re invited to dinner at our house in the near future, you just may see this cake pop up at the end of the meal. 🙂
Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, at room-temperature
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 pears, peeled and diced
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl whip the eggs on high speed of an electric mixer (using the whisk attachment) until pale and very thick. This will take 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter and cook until the butter stops sizzling and begins to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the butter from the heat and keep warm.
Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more, just until it begins to lose volume. Stir in the flour mixture and brown butter, alternating between the two and starting and ending with the flour. Using a spatula, gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, 40 to 50 minutes.
from Smitten Kitchen
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
I don’t even know what a springform pan is but I love what it does here!
Yum! What a delicious combo.
This sounds SO delicious!
This does look delicious, no wonder it got you to buy a spring-form pan:-)
This cakes looks beautiful!
The recipe sounded challenging and adventurous, two things I love. So off I went and purchased a spring-form pan, because if ever I was to own one it’d have to be for a fun recipe like this.
I followed all the steps and I’d even go so far as to say my cake looked just like the pictures, but considering all the effort I would not make this cake again. To be more specific, I wouldn’t put pear and chocolate in it. The batter is in fact now my favorite type of cake. The crust is crispy and interior moist but the pockets of bittersweet chocolate and pear mush ruins it. 🙁 But at least I now own a spring-form pan. 😀
I’m so sorry you didn’t like it! At least you got a good cake recipe out of it I guess. The pear does get a bit mushy, but for some reason it didn’t seem that bad to me. Was your pear pretty ripe and soft to start with? Thanks for the feedback!
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I just made this cake and even though it does take a little more effort than some others it is definitely worth it. My pears were huge so I ended up only using 1 1/2 and they weren’t overly ripe. I think that might be the key to preventing them from becoming mushy. I also cubed in larger chunks. I didn’t have chocolate chunks but used some rather large morsels that I had purchased. I think this is a rather elegant cake and wouldn’t hesitate to bring it to a special affair. Thanks Megan!