The pear and chocolate cake is a chocolate dessert that will surprise you with its softness and goodness. If you love chocolate cakes, like the ecstasy cake with Nutella or the ricotta and cocoa cake, you must absolutely try this one too. Imagine a soft, moist cake where the sweetness of the pears meets the goodness and intense taste of chocolate. This cake with pears and cocoa is exactly that.
The secret to this cake’s softness is the mascarpone: with its delicateness, it makes this cake really soft and velvety on the palate. Yes, you read the ingredients right: there is no oil and no butter. The only fats in this dessert come from the mascarpone. The pear pieces in the batter add moisture and sweetness to the cake. I’m sure this pear and mascarpone cake will amaze you and become one of your favorite desserts.
The chocolate and pear cake is perfect for breakfast or a snack, but also as a dessert for a delicious end of a meal.
It’s very easy to prepare. The secret to making a soft and delicious pear and chocolate cake? Whip the eggs and sugar very well at the beginning: the mixture should be fluffy and frothy and you should gently incorporate the rest of the ingredients.
You can use common electric beaters, a stand mixer, or the Thermomix. The result will always be amazing. At the end of the recipe, you’ll also find the method for making the Thermomix pear and chocolate cake. Now let’s move on to the recipe and see how to prepare this delicious cake with pears and chocolate. But first, I’ll leave you with some links to other pear desserts: these are also super good!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 352.29 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 49.95 (g) of which sugars 23.82 (g)
- Proteins 8.91 (g)
- Fat 15.89 (g) of which saturated 8.89 (g)of which unsaturated 1.60 (g)
- Fibers 2.96 (g)
- Sodium 52.94 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 143 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for pear and chocolate cake
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 8.8 oz mascarpone
- 1 packet vanillin
- 1 packet baking powder
- 3 pears (not overly ripe)
- brown sugar
- as needed butter (or margarine for the pan)
Tools
- Electric beaters
- Cake pan 9.5 inches
- Cutting board
- Sieve
- Knife
Steps to prepare pear and chocolate cake
Let’s see how to prepare this delicious cake with pears and chocolate.
Use all ingredients at room temperature, so take the eggs, mascarpone, and possibly the pears out of the fridge half an hour before.
In a bowl, put the room temperature eggs and sugar.
With the electric beaters, start whipping the mixture at high speed for 7-8 minutes.
You should obtain a light and frothy mixture.
Add the mascarpone one tablespoon at a time.
Work the ingredients at low speed. Add the mascarpone one tablespoon at a time, as the previous spoons are incorporated into the mixture.
Work with the beaters until you get a smooth batter.
Add the sifted flour in 2-3 additions. Work again with the beaters. You will get a very dense batter. You may have difficulty working it with the beaters, but it’s perfectly normal. It should be like that. Sift the unsweetened cocoa powder and add it to the batter.
Work again with the beaters. If you have difficulty, continue by hand with a spatula, making upward movements.
Add the vanillin
and finally the baking powder.
Mix with the electric beaters. From this point, continue with the spatula.
Clean and dice two of the three pears
.
Add them to the batter.
With a spatula, incorporate them gently into the batter until they are well distributed.
Line the bottom of a 9.5-inch cake pan with a sheet of parchment paper and butter the edges of the pan.
Pour the batter into the cake pan.
Level the surface with the spatula.
Clean the remaining pear and cut it in half.
Remove the core and central filament of the pear with a knife.
Then cut it into slices not too thick.
Arrange the slices in a radial pattern on the surface of the pear and chocolate cake.
Sprinkle the pear slices with brown sugar.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F (180°C) for 50 minutes. Before removing the cake from the oven, do the skewer test. If it’s dry, turn off the oven and let it rest for a few minutes with the door open. Once done, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool completely before removing it from the pan.
If you want, you can also sprinkle it with a bit of powdered sugar before serving.
The pear and chocolate cake can also be prepared with the Thermomix. Let’s see the procedure together.
Insert the butterfly into the bowl. Put the eggs and sugar: 7 min, 98.6°F (37°C) speed 5.
With the blades moving at speed 3-4, add the mascarpone through the bowl hole, one tablespoon at a time. Remove the butterfly.
Add the sifted flour: 40 sec speed 3-4.
Add the vanillin, cocoa powder, and sifted baking powder: 40 sec. speed 3-4.
Cut 2 pears into cubes and insert them into the bowl: 30 sec. Reverse speed Soft. If the pears are ripe, I recommend transferring the mixture to a bowl and adding them manually with a spatula, as they may disintegrate in the Thermomix.
Line the bottom of a 9.5-inch cake pan with a sheet of parchment paper and butter the edges of the pan. Pour the batter and level the surface with the spatula.
Peel a pear, cut it in half, remove the core and central filament, and cut it into slices. Arrange the slices in a radial pattern on the cake surface and sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F (180°C) for 50 minutes. Before removing it from the oven, do the skewer test. If the skewer is dry, turn off the oven and let the pear and chocolate cake rest with the door open. Then take it out and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan. If you want, you can serve it dusted with powdered sugar.
Storage and variations
– The pear and chocolate cake is best stored under a cake dome at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Since there are pears that could mold, I recommend storing it in the fridge and taking it out half an hour before consuming it. In the fridge, it can last 2-3 days.
– You can replace pears with apples or put both.
– If the pears used are small or medium-sized, you may need 4.
– Additionally, you can enrich it with chocolate chips or sprinkle the surface with nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, or coarsely chopped walnuts.
– To make this pear and chocolate cake lactose-free, you can use lactose-free mascarpone (if your intolerance allows it).
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of pears are used for pear and chocolate cake?
I used conference pears, but any variety of pear (coscia, abate, decana…) is fine, as long as it’s not overly ripe. If you want to use very soft pears, cut them into pieces and dry them slightly on kitchen paper. This way they won’t release much water into the batter.
Can mascarpone be substituted?
I do not recommend substituting mascarpone because it is the only source of fat in the dessert. Replacing it with more ‘light’ ingredients like yogurt or ricotta would imbalance the recipe because it would lack the source of fat.
Can brown sugar be replaced with granulated sugar?
Yes, of course. However, brown sugar gives a slight caramel flavor to the pears. Conversely, if you like brown sugar, you can replace the granulated sugar in the recipe with the same amount of brown sugar, preferably whole.
Can the unsweetened cocoa in the recipe be replaced with melted dark chocolate?
No, because you would imbalance the recipe. Unsweetened cocoa is a powder, melted chocolate is a “liquid”, aside from having a different amount of fat.
