Spiced Vegan Pear Cake
This Spiced Vegan Pear Cake combines soft, moist cake with juicy pears, sweet, warm spices, and crumbly streusel topping for the most delightful dessert that's perfect for fall.
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 158kcal
Equipment
- 9-inch round pie pan
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dairy-free plain or vanilla yogurt
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened, non-dairy milk I used almond
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 medium fresh pear peeled, seeded, and diced
- 1 medium fresh pear sliced
Streusel Topping, optional
- ¼ cup cane sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cold vegan butter
Instructions
For the Spiced Vegan Pear Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9-inch round pie pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- If you will be using the streusel topping, make it now (instructions below) and set aside. If you are not using the streusel topping, skip to the next step.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt and sugar until well combined. Whisk in the milk, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix! No white flour should be visible, but lumps are okay.
- Gently stir in the diced pear.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get it all in the pan. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Arrange the pear slices on top of the batter either fanned out in a circle or however you think looks pretty.
- Sprinkle the streusel, if using, evenly over the top of the cake and pear slices.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a wire cooling rack to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.
For the Streusel Topping
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon (if using), and salt in a bowl.
- "Cut" in the butter using a fork, pastry cutter, or clean hands until it resembles coarse sand. The crumbles don't have to be uniform in size. I actually prefer to just get in there with my hands and squeeze everything together until it's crumbly.
Notes
~ Use the spoon and level method of measuring flour. Fluff up the flour with a spoon, then spoon the flour into a measuring cup, overfilling it a little. Using the back of a knife, level off the top. Do not scoop the flour directly out of the bag using the measuring cup and do not press or pack down the flour in the measuring cup.
~ Do not over mix the batter! Mix gently just until no visible white flour remains. A few lumps in the batter is okay. Over mixing the batter is the #1 culprit of tough, rubbery cakes!
~ Spray the pie pan with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper.
~ The sliced pears on top not only look pretty, but provide an extra layer of texture and flavor. Don't skip them!
~ The streusel topping is optional, but highly recommended! Cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture with a fork, pastry cutter or your clean hands. Do not melt the butter - the topping will turn into a paste and won't get that perfect crumbly, crisp texture that streusel is known for.
~ The cake is done when it beings to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
~ Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 to 20 minutes before cutting.
Nutrition
Calories: 158kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 229mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g