Although Pear Ricotta Cake is gluten-free, it’s a cake for anyone who loves a good dessert or a slice of cake with a cup of tea or coffee. The ricotta keeps the cake moist and dense. The pears add a festiveness to the cake as they sit with the tops poking out of the batter. Serve this beautiful cake as-is or add a dollop of cream or a scoop of ice cream. I’m happy just eating it on its own.
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I used small Bartlett pears for this cake but use whatever small pears you can find. Use pears that are ripe but still firm-ish. Pear Ricotta Cake is both festive and comforting. It has a taste and texture that seem nostalgic. Keep some of the cinnamon-infused syrup the pears are cooked in for drizzling over each slice of cake.
PS. For a wonderful festive side dish, try my Maple Roasted Parsnips & Pears.
PEAR RICOTTA CAKE
Equipment
- 1 9-inch springform pan
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon 15ml vanilla extract
- 17.6 oz 500g ricotta (full-fat)
- 1 1/2 cups almond meal
- 1/4 cup cornstarch cornflour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
- Pinch of salt
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
FOR THE PEARS
- 6 small firm, ripe pears, peeled I used small bartlett pears
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 quart 1 liter/4 cups water
Instructions
To make the pears:
- Place the pears, sugar, cinnamon sticks & water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, covered, 5 to 10 minutes until pears start to soften. Carefully remove the pears and set aside to cool. The pear-infused syrup that’s left is good in cocktails or drizzled warm over the cake when serving.
- Grease and line base and side of a 9-inch (24cm) round springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla and ricotta together in a large bowl until well combined and no there are no lumps. Add the almond meal, cornstarch, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the pears, nestling them into the cake mixture making sure they don’t touch the side of the pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until cooked when a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the mixture to cool in the pan before carefully removing the ring.
- Place the cake on a stand of platter and dust with powdered sugar & cinnamon. Serves about 10.
Nutrition
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Lovoni, when making anything, do you find using the metric measurements and weighing out ingredients that you get better results? (Hi, from chilly South Dakota)
It depends what I’m doing. I always weigh my ingredients when I’m baking bread, it doesn’t have to be metric, one cup of flour = 4 1/2 oz or 120g. That sort of thing. I do have a toggle on my recipes that allows a person to jump between cup measures and metric weights. You could take those metric measures and just ask Siri or Alex…or Google, what the equivalent is in metric. It’s also good to have a handy sheet with that info on…I need to put one of those on my website for people to print or download. Is there a particular recipe you were wanting to make? Not all my recipes (mainly the older ones) have the metric option but I’m always happy to help if you can’t find the answer. Stay warm & happy holidays to you. L xo