Make Ahead

Pear Cardamom Bundt Cake

by:
January 29, 2011
5
2 Ratings
  • Serves 16
Author Notes

I make the apple raisin cake from A Piece of Cake by Susan Purdy quite a bit. I thought it might be good to swap out the apples and raisins for pears and candied ginger and use cardamom rather than cinnamon. I also added a white chocolate ganache on top for a little extra treat. —VanessaS

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Ingredients
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 green Anjou pears, chopped into a rough 1/2 inch to 3/4 dice (rustic looks nice in this)
  • 1/4 cup candied ginger, finely minced
  • 1 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 ounces white chocolate chips
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom.
  2. In a large bowl, beat oil and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, milk and eggs and continue to beat for about 3 minutes. Add in flour a cup at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. With a wooden spoon, mix in pears, candied ginger and walnuts. The batter is thick, so this will take some elbow grease.
  3. Spoon batter into bundt pan and bake for 80 to 90 minutes, until the top is golden. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then gently run a butter knife between the cake and pan to make sure the cake isn't sticking. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let it sit until its completely cooled.
  4. In a small saucepan, heat cream until it just starts to boil. Turn off heat, add chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Let it sit and cool until it thickens - about an hour at room temperature- or put it in the fridge to speed it up. Whisk the mixture for about 30 seconds to make it a little fluffier and spoon it over the top of the cake.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

9 Reviews

andhollis April 15, 2016
I'm a fan of Susan Purdy's "A Piece of Cake" too - your pear version is inspired! I will make it as my birthday cake. Thanks!
frances85221 October 21, 2011
Thanks for this awesome recipe! I baked it once last week and it turned out a little sweeter than expected, so I halved the sugar, used 2/3 oil, half the cardamom and the whole kitchen smelled middle eastern when I added the spice, so I included two tbs of Rosewater and it turned out perfect! This will be our Thanksgiving dessert :)
VanessaS October 23, 2011
I'm glad you liked it! I'm inspired to try it with rosewater now - good idea!
Ascender September 24, 2011
This looks like the perfect cake to send in a care package. Think it would hold up if I ship it 2nd day express mail? I'm thinking I'd ship the white chocolate ganache in a separate container, to be applied on the other end.
VanessaS September 25, 2011
Hmm, I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to taking risks with food safety, so my point of view might be overly cautious - I would be afraid to ship the frosting, but I imagine an overnight fed ex might be ok. I've left it out on the counter for 4 days or so and nothing bad happened.
singing_baker September 9, 2011
White chocolate, walnuts and pears sound like the best bundt cake ever!
VanessaS September 9, 2011
Thanks, singing_baker! It has a lot of pear in it, so it's not super cake-y and crumb-y, but it stays moist for a long time.
mrslarkin January 30, 2011
wowee!
drbabs January 29, 2011
yum