This Spiced Pear Cake is covered with the most amazing tasting browned butter icing!
We live in a happy cul-de-sac consisting of seven homes. There are 15 children in our cul-de-sac, ranging in age from 1 to 20. Our quiet, little corner is a haven for kids playing football, jumping bikes off ramps and playing hide-and-go-seek. It’s definitely an ideal place to be if you’re looking for suburbia. The neighbors are pretty darn nice. Case in point: Neighbor A backed into Neighbor B’s car the other day. The bumper was smashed up pretty good, and Neighbor A felt awful… so A brought B a basket full of fresh pears to apologize. Neighbor B brought some of those pears to me, and I made Spiced Pear Cake with Browned Butter Icing. I told you it was a happy cul-de-sac, didn’t I?
Oh yeah, see that icing drizzle? It’s a must… an absolute must. And you get more bang for your buck with this recipe since it makes TWO cakes 🙂
I opted to make this recipe in two loaf pans because I like to change things up a bit and make cakes in “tea cake” fashion now and then. I think it works best for this recipe. The cake bakes up much like banana bread, but it’s too sweet to call it bread. So it’s CAKE, my friends.
Here’s the super yummy part: BROWNED BUTTER ICING. Do not leave off the icing. Seriously, don’t do it. It’s so so so easy to make, and you will want to eat it by the spoonful before you even drizzle it onto the cake. Not that I’m advocating that or anything, but it certainly gives you a good idea of how delicious this stuff is.
Remember I mentioned that this recipe makes TWO cakes? Well, that nice neighbor who gave me the pears ended up getting them back again in one of these cakes. Yep, I gave her a cake. That happy-neighbor-thing is just kind of sickening to hear, isn’t it?
A little slice of this cake… with those spiced pears flecked throughout… and just the right amount of browned butter icing drizzled on top… is a perfectly nice dessert for fall (and for the abundance of fresh pears available right now). Use the rest of your pears to make my friend’s Pear Buttermilk Breakfast Cake. It’s delicious too!
Spiced Pear Cake with Browned Butter Icing
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 3 medium to large firm pears (peeled, cored and chopped)
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
BROWNED BUTTER ICING:
- ¼ cup (½ stick) salted butter
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 4 to 5 teaspoons boiling hot water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Arrange your oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 5x8-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray.
PREPARE THE CAKE:
- In a medium bowl, toss the pears with the white and brown sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, milk, oil and applesauce. Whisk in the dry ingredients until they are just mixed in (don't over-mix). Stir in the pears and all of their sweet and spicy juices too. Divide the batter between the two pans. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, or until the loaves are baked through and test done (toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean). Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely.
ADD THE ICING:
- When cake is cool, prepare the icing. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat and stir for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the butter is lightly browned (you will see little flecks of brown throughout the melted butter when it is properly browned). Remove it from the stove and pour it into a bowl. Whisk in 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Add 3 teaspoons of the water and the vanilla. Whisk in more powdered sugar a little at a time until it thick but still pourable (add a teaspoon or two of additional water, if needed). Place paper towels under the rack and drizzle the icing onto the cakes. Serve immediately, or store in a covered container until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This cake is amazing! I’ve made is several times over the years every fall; and it turns out perfect. I make it as the recipe directs, with no changes. People usually ask for 2nds and giving the 2nd cake as a thank you is always appreciated.
I made it again a couple days ago and again it was perfectly irresistible. I gave the 2nd cake to thank a friend for helping me move. I made another batch yesterday, but it turned out differently, lighter, less dense, less flavorful – still good, just not amazing. What was different….?
I then noticed the difference—the cakes I made a couple days ago have 2 cups of whole wheat flour. I followed the recipe on the website (online).
But yesterday I followed the recipe from a print-out from a few years ago, 2018. The print-out has 1 cup of whole wheat flour, not 2 cups.
Did this recipe change in the last 8 years?
The cakes I made with 2 cups WW, were better, denser with more flavor- but used more flour.
How would making it again, with less flour, make it lighter in comparison?
I want to make it again, just not sure if I should use 2 cups WW or 1cup to get the results I love. Please let me know
1 cup! That was an error in moving the recipe to a new recipe card. Thank you for pointing that out!
This recipe is delicious – my bed and breakfast guests love it – I bake in 2 -8″ rounds.