Spiced Pear Bundt Cake
This whole wheat bundt cake is perfect for any occasion! The whole grain, reduced sugar, and fat lend it to a "healthier" dessert. The combo of the pears and spices makes it perfect for anyone to enjoy!
Servings: 16 servings
Equipment
- 10 inch bundt cake pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour You can easily make this cake 100% whole wheat. I didn't as I had a softer texture I was going for.
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ t teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 4 cups pears, peeled and cubed My pieces were about ½-3/4 inch cubed. You can do them smaller or larger depending on your preference.
- 1 cup brown sugar Could easily be reduced to ¾-2/3 cup.
- ½ cup granulated sugar You could reduce this sugar as well. I wouldn't suggest going any less than ¼.
- ⅔ cup canola oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon Sugar for topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cinnamon Simple Syrup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- dash nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.So, pull when it is ready. Give it 3-5 minutes in the pan, then prep to remove. I do this by placing a cooling rack on top of the pan. With oven mitts on, or hot pads to cover your hands, invert the pan onto the cooling rack. Now, the moment of truth. Remove the pan carefully. Hopefully with the prep we did before hand, it should slide out no problem!While it is still warm, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar. This is purely optional, but our family loves it!Now, sit back and enjoy it! You deserve it!
- Before you start the batter, prep your pan. Nothing is worse than flipping your cake out and having it stick!! So, take a little time upfront and you won't have any problem. I like to brush the entire inside with melted butter.
- Next, add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the inside. Swirl and move the flour around the pan until the buttered part is lightly coated. Tap out excess flour. You don't want too much, but enough to coat it.
- Cut your pears and set them aside.
- Next, mix your flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In another larger bowl, add the oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix. Add in eggs and vanilla. Mix again to combine well.
- Add in your dry ingredients. Mix only to combine. This will be fairly thick. Carefully blend in pears. I like to keep most of my chunks intact if you can.
- Pour into pan and place in oven.
- The cake will take anywhere from 45- 1 hour and 10 minutes to cook.
- While it is baking, make your cinnamon sugar and the cinnamon simple syrup. Set the cinnamon sugar aside in a small bowl. Combine all ingredients for the syrup together in a medium-size pan and heat over medium heat. Stir occasionally. You will want the sugar to dissolve, so watch for that. Set it aside when you are done.
- What you will want is when you touch the cake, you will feel a bit of a spring back, but still slightly underdone. You can check this with a toothpick as well. You will want just a little left on the toothpick.
- Once it is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 7-10 minutes.
- Set the cooling rack over the pan then invert. If the cake doesn't release right away, go in with a knife or fork and gently pry it away from the sides.
- Once it is out of the pan, spread the top generously with the simple syrup. Then quickly sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
- That is it! The cake is ready to serve or you can let it cool.
Video
Notes
- Choose a quality bundt cake pan- Bundt cake pans can be so beautiful and it's disappointing when the cake sticks and doesn't turn out as planned. It's important to always take the time to properly add flour and butter to your pan to prevent sticking. Sometimes even with our best effort, the pan itself is the problem. Overly scratched or worn pans and those with very intricate designs can sometimes cause frustration.
- Use a wire rack- Cooling the cake on a wire rack helps avoid a sticky or soggy cake bottom. It allows air to circulate around the cake as it cools rather than trap the steam released by the cake.
- Be mindful to not over-mix or over bake-This cake will come out tender and light but over-mixing and over-baking can cause it to be tough and dense. When baking, pay close attention to visual cues and keep in mind that carry-over cooking will occur as the cake cools, so it's okay to take it out of the oven slightly underbaked.