Spiced Pear Cake with Maple Bourbon Glaze
Happy new year everyone! And what a start! My goal is to have more slow moments this year. 2022 was incredibly fast paced and it left me out of breath. Now that we’ve arrived at January, I feel a nudge to shift to more mindful living. Although, only time will tell if that will last haha. I’ll keep you up to tabs.
Meanwhile, I’m starting my first bake of the year with this beautiful Spiced Pear Cake with a Maple Bourbon glaze. It’s boozy, moist, and mile high! A perfect start to the year. My mom, at first, relentlessly requested for pie (a wonderful suggestion except that we literally had pie 3 days ago). I side stepped to this cake whilst tempting her with the promise of booze and she agreed albeit begrudgingly. Fast forward to today and 2 servings later, she has declared it as one of her favorite cakes. It’s that good! The type of cake that appears simple but gently creeps it’s way into your heart.
The batter is lightly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. Then, I folded in different cuts of pears for juicy bites in between mouthfuls of soft cake. I recommend eating this warm with a good cup of coffee. Or if you’re like me, pair it with a hot mug of tea.
I was inspired to make it from Zoë François latest cookbook, Zoë Bakes Cakes. Just from leafing through the pages I knew I would find many gems here. The recipes were thoughtfully written with an elegant yet offhand style. It’s a great book to have in one’s repertoire and one that I will keep on the shelf for some time before I concede to sharing.
We received a huge crate of Asian pears last Christmas and this was the perfect way to finish them off before they go bad. If you’re not familiar with Asian pears, they’re quite different from their European cousins. The texture is much firmer than the latter and they are usually eaten raw while they are crisp and juicy. A good rule of thumb when baking with Asian pears is that they hold a lot of liquid so avoid adding extra milk to this recipe.
Some Delicious Variations
This recipe works extremely well with other stone fruits. Think apples, peaches, plums or other pear varieties. You can also switch up the spices. Adding chai, cardamom or even some garam masala for an interesting twist.
Pan Options: The cake pictured here is a towering one layer which naturally has a longer baking time because it’s so thick. Depending on the pans you have at home, you can use two 9-inch pans or two loaf tins. Or even better a 12-cup bundt pan for a stunning presentation.
Vegan Option: Make this cake vegan by subbing the eggs for 3 flax eggs. For the Maple Bourbon Glaze, use full fat coconut cream (white part only) instead of the heavy cream and use good quality vegan butter.
Gluten Free Option: To be transparent, I still haven’t tried a gluten free version. Although, I suspect that it would still work well. You can use a gluten free flour blend in place of the flour and wheat flour in the original recipe. I highly recommend Bob’s Gluten Free Flour which hasn’t failed me yet. Just keep in mind that the texture and heartiness that originally comes from the wheat flour won’t be as present so you can expect a softer and moist cake.
Just A Few More Tips
- Make sure to prep your pan properly to avoid any cake sticking. Run the surface of the pan with a knob of butter and dust it with flour, tapping the excess flour off the pan. For more on prepping a cake pan, you can view this video.
- Remember to remove your eggs from the fridge so they can come to room temperature. I always forget this step till the last minute!
- Get creative and play around with the flavors of this cake by changing up the spices used or using a different alcohol. Rum, brandy and whisky are favorites. You can also completely leave out the alcohol for a booze-free cake.
- To jazz up this Spiced Pear Cake even further, you can switch out the glaze for a crumb streusel topping or this cream cheese buttercream.
Let me know if you tried making this Spiced Pear Cake with Maple Bourbon Glaze by leaving a rating/comment down below! Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Spiced Pear Cake with Maple Bourbon Cake
Ingredients
Spiced Pear Cake
- 300 mL (1¼ cups) vegetable oil ,or any mild flavored oil
- 300 g (1½ cups) granulated sugar
- 130 g (⅔ cup) brown sugar ,packed
- 4 tbsp bourbon*
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs* ,room temp
- 300 g (2 cups) 2 grated pears ,peeled and cored
- 300 g (2 cups) 2 chopped pears ,cubed, peeled and cored
- 240 g (2 cups) all purpose flour + 1 tbsp extra ,sifted
- 130 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour ,sifted
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp salt
- 100 g (1 cup) chopped walnuts ,optional
Maple Bourbon Glaze
- 60 mL (¼ cup) heavy cream*
- 50 g (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp bourbon
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter*
- 1 pinch (⅛ tsp) salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Generously line your pan with butter and flour. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of all purpose flour, wheat flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate larger bowl, mix together the oil, sugars, bourbon, vanilla and eggs until the batter resembles a golden syrupy goop. Fold in the grated pears until just incorporated. Then, add in the flour mixture until no large clumps of flour are left.
- Toss the remaining cubed pears with the 1 tbsp of flour then fold the chunks in the cake batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan* and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for at least 15 minutes then turn out on a wire rack to cool further
Glaze
- Meanwhile, make the glaze. Add all the glaze ingredients in a heavy bottomed pot placed over medium low heat. Stir occasionally and simmer for around 2 minutes. The glaze will become thicker as it cools.
- Pour half of the glaze over the still warm cake and reserve the rest for extra drizzling when ready to eat. Cut, serve and enjoy warm.
