Pear-Almond Cake
Updated October 23, 2025
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
8 tablespoons/113 grams melted unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
4 large eggs, beaten until lightly foamy
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 ⅔ cups/180 grams almond flour
1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar, plus about 2 tablespoons more for sprinkling
¼ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 large firm-ripe pears, peeled, in ¼-inch slices
¼ cup/25 grams sliced almonds
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
42 grams carbs; 123 milligrams cholesterol; 430 calories; 5 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 27 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 120 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein; 35 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch springform cake pan.
- Step 2
In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and almond extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together almond flour, granulated sugar, salt and baking powder. Combine both mixtures, beating briefly, until smooth.
- Step 3
Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Arrange pear slices over the top in a random pattern. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons granulated sugar over pears, then scatter sliced almonds lightly over the surface. Place the dish on a baking sheet.
- Step 4
Bake for about 1 hour, or until nicely browned on top and an inserted cake tester emerges clean. Cool until you can handle the pan. Remove springform, using a butter knife to help release the cake, and let cool completely. (The cake will taste better after several hours and up to 1 day.)
- Step 5
Dust cake very lightly with powdered sugar. Cut wedges and serve directly from the base of the springform (or straight from the pie pan).
Private Notes
Comments
Very tasty. Modifications: 10" spring form; Used 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 regular flour, cut sugar to 3/4C (was still very sweet), added some nutmeg, cardamom and ginger, used 3 pears arranged in concentric circles (per previous comment, no random scattering), super generous amt. of almonds and only 1 TBL of sugar for sprinkling. If your pan is slightly larger check for doneness at 50-55 minutes. Everyone loved it.
Please, no random pattern w/ the pears. Make it as pretty as possible. You must feed the eye as well as the mouth. You’ll be glad you did.
Great recipe, I followed reader suggestions. Weigh your almond flour, 180 grams for me was less than 2 cups. Cut sugar to 3/4 cup, only 1 tbsp sprinkled, doubled almond and vanilla extracts, 1/2 cup sliced almonds, arrange pears nicely, use parchment paper and grease well. 9" springform pan, I baked at 325 convection for 1 hour, no burning or sticking. It does start browning at the 30 min mark, so keep an eye on it.
Would peaches work instead of pears?
This is a wonderful dessert for a company dinner. Everyone loves it!
Absolutely love this cake! After reading the comments, I made these modifications: 3/4C almond flour, 1/4C coconut flour, quadrupled the baking powder to 2 tsps, creamed 3/4C butter to 3/4C sugar, among the 4 eggs whipped the whites of 2, doubled the almond and vanilla extract to 1tsp ea., added 1/2tsp lemon zest, used 2 Granny Smiths instead of pears, doubled the sliced almonds to 1/2C, baked for 55 min at 350, It was a very flavorful, light, and fluffy cake where everyone raved and wanted seconds. Next time I’ll try it with pears since they were too rock hard this first go-round and thanks to the commenter who mentioned that pears don’t caramelize with heat - apples do.