This chocolate and pear cake recipe combines the best of in season pears and dark chocolate. It's a truly magical combination.

This post will:

Warm you up if you're feeling cold.
Provide a comfort food hit - I mean, there's chocolate!
Offer substitutions if you don't have the necessary ingredients.
Provide a full recipe to help you make the best chocolate and pear cake.

a chocolate cake with pears — A beautiful chocolate cake with pears

pears on a table with eggs and almond flour — Some of the ingredients required

🥘 Ingredients

100 g chocolate, 70% cocoa solids
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
100 g butter, unsalted
4 eggs, separated (you can use 3 larger ones)
100 g raw sugar, caster or superfine
100 g almond meal
1 pinch sea salt
3 pears, cleaned cored and sliced in half

The chocolate and pear cake is naturally gluten free using almond meal as the flour of choice.

There's also some good quality butter, dark chocolate, sugar and eggs.

I've spiced it up with some vanilla and I also think cinnamon would work beautifully too. In fact, this cake is quite versatile you can add any fruit on top.

I did a version of this the other day with frozen raspberries and a good splash of Chambord added to the batter.

pears on a table — Use good quality pears

Just a note regarding the pears if you plan on making this. I used Packham pears that were definitely on the "crunchier" side.

Whilst they did soften up in the oven I think a good idea would be to blanch them for five minutes before adding them to the cake. Or just use softer, riper pears.

chocolate and pear cake on a stand — This chocolate and pear cake is truly decadent

🔪 Instructions

Preheat your oven to 160 deg C using the fan force option. Grease and line a 20cm springform baking tin and set aside.
Using the double boiler method melt the chocolate and butter until well incorporated. Add the vanilla, stir and set aside.
In a spare bowl combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until thick, pale and creamy. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and set aside.
To make the cake batter add the creamed sugar mixture, almond meal and sea salt to the melted chocolate combination and stir until combined. Finally, fold through the egg whites very gently, making sure they are well incorporated.
Pour the cake batter into the baking tin and cook for 5 mins. Remove the cake and arrange the pears cut side down and bake for a further 40-45 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 mins before removing the cake and allowing to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and serve with double cream, creme fraiche or yoghurt.

Please don't be put off by the amount of dishes used to make this chocolate and pear cake. I can assure you it's totally worth it.

a slice of chocolate and pear cake on a rustic table — Serve your cake with a nice thick cream

🥗 Side dishes

Serve this up with some deliciously sinful double cream, creme fraiche or even Greek yoghurt.

📖 Variations

There is certainly no shortage of chocolate cakes here at Souvlaki For The Soul.

I encourage you to check out the following creations:

Try this dramatic chocolate and beetroot cake
Paleo? The best paleo chocolate cake I've tried!
Love Nutella? Try this hazelnut meal and chocolate cake

📋 Recipe