Chocolate Pear Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Butter a 9-inch round baking pan.
• To make the fruit topping, put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan (one with a tight-fitting lid) and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then cover and cook for 2 minutes. (Covering in this way allows the steam to wash down the sides of pan, which will prevent any sugar crystals from forming.) Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the sugar, gently and slowly swirling the pan as needed to cook the caramel evenly, until it becomes a dark amber color. Occasionally wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared pan and allow it to harden. The pan will be very hot from the sugar, so take care in moving it if you need to. Fan the pear slices on top of the caramel in a circle around the perimeter, filling in the center with the remaining slices.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• To make the cake, place the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat and melt, stirring occasionally. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Transfer the melted chocolate to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the cake bounces back slightly when touched. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate, leaving the pan on top of the cake for 5 minutes before you remove it. Serve the cake warm, topped with a small dollop of Chantilly cream or a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
• Storage: Wrapped in plastic wrap, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Steps:

• To Make Jam:
• Wearing rubber gloves, cut a 1/2-inch slice off both ends of each pear and carefully peel off rind and discard. Chop prickly pear and place in food processor and blend until smooth. Strain, extracting as much puree and liquid by pushing down pulp with a rubber spatula.
• Place 1 cup prickly pear puree plus sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat, for 10 minutes, stirring frequently until purée is reduced 1/2 cup. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Once cool stir in lime and orange juice.
• To Make Cake:
• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 2 (9-inch) round pans. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 min. Loosen cakes from sides of pans. Invert onto racks; gently remove pans. Cool cakes completely.
• Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. (Pudding will be thick.) Gently stir in whipped topping.
• Place 1 cake layer on plate; spread with jam. Top with layers of half each of the pudding mixture and prickly pears; cover with remaining cake layer. Top with remaining pudding mixture.
• Refrigerate 1 hour. Top with chocolate shavings and prickly pear slices just before serving.

Steps:

• For the pears: Lightly butter a 9-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, and butter the paper. Put the butter, brown sugar, and lemon zest and juice in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until melted. Add the pears, cover, and simmer, turning once, until the pears are soft and juicy, about 4 minutes. Pour the pears and their syrup into a strainer set over a saucepan. Set the syrup and 1 pear quarter aside. Arrange remaining pears in the prepared pan, stem ends toward center, rounded sides down, and 1/4-inch from the side. Chop reserved pear and use just enough to fill center.
• For the cake: Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Scald milk in a small saucepan; keep warm. Whisk flour with almonds, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high and gradually add granulated sugar; continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and beat 1 minute. While mixing at medium-low speed, add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• While mixing slowly, add the flour mixture in 4 additions; turn off the mixer and fold in the hot milk with a rubber spatula. Spread the batter over the pears, taking care not to disturb them. Tap the pan lightly on the counter to settle the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then invert the cake onto a serving plate. Cool briefly, carefully peel the parchment paper from the top, and then cool completely.
• To finish the cake: Boil the reserved pear syrup until slightly thick and lightly brush the top of the cake with syrup. Whisk a few tablespoons of cocoa powder with an equal amount of confectioners' sugar, and sift over the cake; serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Coat a 9-inch round pan with cooking spray.
• Beat butter or margarine in large bowl until creamy; add white sugar, and beat until fluffy.
• Beat in egg and vanilla.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
• Spread a little more than half of the batter in the prepared pan.
• Cover with pear slices and dust with chocolate, and add remaining batter by tablespoons covering well pears and chocolate.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes, until toothpick test done.
• Remove pan to wire rack to cool.
• If you wish dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Cut a circle of baking parchment to fit the base of a 25cm loose-bottomed tin. Melt 1 tbsp butter and brush the inside of the tin, then line the base with the parchment and brush again with more butter. Spoon in 2 tbsp caster sugar, swirl it around to coat the base and sides, then tip out any excess.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water, remove from the heat, stir in the brandy and leave to cool. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until pale and thick; fold into the chocolate with the hazelnuts.
• In a separate bowl, with a clean whisk, beat the whites until they reach a soft peak (try not to whisk them too stiffly or you'll have trouble folding them in). Stir a spoonful of the whites into the chocolate mix, then carefully fold in the rest of them in 2 additions. Spoon into the prepared tin. Level, then arrange the pears over the mixture, cut-side down. Bake for 40 mins until the pears are soft and the cake is cooked all the way through. Leave to cool in the tin slightly before releasing it, then place on a rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve with crème fraîche.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter and line the base and sides of a deep, 20cm loose-bottomed round cake tin. Mix the sugar, flours, ground almonds, baking powder and spices in a big bowl. Mix together the chopped nuts. Set aside 2 heaped tbsp of them for decoration and stir the rest into the dry ingredients with the chopped chocolate or chips. Whisk together the melted butter, eggs and almond extract.
• Tip the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly to combine, then fold in the diced pear. Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 45 mins, then cover with foil and bake for 20 mins more until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin overnight.
• For the icing, put the soured cream and chocolate chunks in a small pan. Heat very gently, stirring, until melted. Chill until spreadable (overnight is fine).
• Remove the cake from the tin, spread over the icing and scatter with the reserved nuts.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a 10-inch cake pan. Line the pan with parchment or waxed paper and lightly oil the paper.
• In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Mix until thoroughly blended.
• Line the bottom of the cake pan with the pears in a circular design. Pour the batter on top of the pears. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Place on a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. With a butter knife, cut around the edge of the cake, loosening the sides. Invert the pan onto a plate. Using the handle of the knife, vigorously tap the top of the pan, even shaking it a bit, to loosen the cake. Leave the pan over the cake for 15 minutes. Remove the pan and let the cake cool completely.

Steps:

• CAKE.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Butter a 9in springform cake pan, then line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Process the chocolate and pistachios in a food processor until coarse crumbs form.
• Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined, then beat in the vanilla.
• Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture, then add the pistachio and chocolate mixture and the pear.
• Pour into the springform pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes then carefully remove the mold.
• CHOCOLATE GANACHE.
• Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat to just BELOW boiling. Watch carefully to avoid scalding.
• Add chocolate and stir until smooth.
• Remove from heat and set aside until slightly thickened (5-10 minutes).
• Pour ganache over the cake, scatter with pistachios, and place in the refrigerator to set (20-30 minutes).
• Enjoy!