Pear and Cinnamon Cake
This pear and cinnamon cake gives me big autumn/ fall vibes. It has soft cinnamon spiced sponge and sweet vanilla buttercream with caramelised pear and pecans. It is autumn summed up in one cake!
Ingredients
- 400 ml Almond milk unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon Apple cider vinegar
- 300 g Sugar caster, super-fine
- 2 ½ tablespoon Vanilla extract
- 150 ml Vegetable oil
- 350 g Flour plain, white, all-purpose
- ¾ teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 300 g Butter unsalted
- 365 g Icing sugar
- 2 Pears medium-sized
- 3 tablespoon Soft light brown sugar
- 3 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon powder
- 8 Pecans in quarters
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/ 356°F. Prep your 6 inch baking tins with a circle of baking paper at the bottom. I use a bit of oil to make the paper stick to the tin.
- Pour your milk and apple cider vinegar into a large bowl and whisk together briefly, until just combined. Set this aside for a couple of minutes. It will curdle (but don't worry- this is what we want!). In another bowl, sieve the flour, soda, baking powder, 3 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon salt. Mix these dry ingredients together with a spoon. Then, place your caster sugar, 1½ teaspoon vanilla + oil into the wet milk mixture. Whisk together until just combined. Using a large spoon, spoon your dry flour mixture into the wet mixture, whisking as you go.
- Pour your cake batter into the two lined deep 6-inch tins, evenly. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a knife comes out of the centre clean. If you use thinner 8-inch tins, you only need to bake for 30 minutes. Then leave the cakes to cool completely.
- Once your cake is completely cool, cut the top off of the cake (which would have grown above the tin). Use a sharp knife to cut the top of the cake off whilst it is still in the cake tin. Use the edge of the cake tin to guide you, making this a super even cut.
- In a standing mixer, cream the butter for around 2 minutes on a medium-high speed. Add the salt and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and mix again for another 30 seconds. Then, add the icing sugar and mix on a low speed for around 30 seconds and then increase to a high speed, until combined and fluffy (around 1-2 minutes). If you think your icing is too soft you can always add more icing sugar. Equally, if you think your icing is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.
- Add the chopped pears to the saucepan with the brown sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Place this on a medium heat and cook these for around 5 minutes, until they are softer but still intact (not stewed). Leave these to cool fully
- Place one of the two layers of sponge in the centre of a cake plate. Then put a layer of buttercream icing on top. Then create an icing barrier around the edge on top of the first icing layer. Place ½ the pear filling in the middle of this icing barrier. Piping bags make this step easier. Then place the second layer of sponge on top.
- Using a piping bag with icing in, spread the icing around the edge and the top of the cake. Use a cake spatula to smooth it all out. If you don’t have these, you can do more of a rustic pattern with a knife. Place the cake in the fridge to cool for as long as possible after this step (ideally at least a couple of hours).
- Add the remainder of the pear filling on top of the cake along with the chopped pecans. Then cut this up and ENJOY!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!