Pear Snacking Cake With Chocolate and Rosemary
For lovers of a not-too-sweet dessert, this cozy snacking cake is for you. Featuring autumnal pear, woodsy rosemary, and chocolate chunks, it’s the ideal slice for anyone who prefers their cake with a savory angle (like test kitchen director Chris Morocco, who, after tasting it, squirreled away a piece for his breakfast the next day). With each bite, the rosemary-sugar-crusted top gives way to a lighter-than-expected interior. This is achieved by whipping the eggs and sugar until they reach a ribbon-like consistency, which adds lots of air into the finished batter. Leave your snacking cake on the counter to cut into throughout the day. It’s great with a cup of coffee, as an afternoon pick-me-up, or with a spoonful of whipped cream or crème fraîche for dessert.
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What you’ll need
Round Cake Pan
$18 At Amazon
Stand Mixer
$330 $250 At Amazon
Mesh Sieve
$13 At Amazon
Cake Tester
$3 At Amazon
Rubber Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Recipe information
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes (plus cooling)
Yield
8 servings
Ingredients
⅓
1¼
1
½
2
⅔
¼
½
2
3
1
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 400°. Brush a 9"-diameter cake pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Line bottom with a parchment paper round and brush round with oil. Lightly dust pan with all-purpose flour, tapping out excess. Whisk 1¼ cups (156 g) all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl to combine; set aside.
Step 2
Beat 2 large eggs and ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment on medium-high speed until doubled in size, pale in color, and mixture falls back onto itself in a slowly dissolving ribbon, 12–14 minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with motor running, gradually pour in ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil; mix until combined. Add ¼ cup plain whole-milk yogurt and ½ tsp. vanilla extract and mix on low speed just until combined. Sift in reserved dry ingredients and beat on low speed until barely incorporated, about 15 seconds. Set aside ¼ cup from 2 medium pears, peeled, cored, cut into ⅓" pieces, for topping cake. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, and remaining pears until evenly distributed and any last streaks of dry ingredients are incorporated.
Step 3
Scrape batter into prepared pan. Top with reserved pears, then 1 Tbsp. finely chopped rosemary and 1 Tbsp. raw sugar. Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° and continue to bake until golden brown on top and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 35–40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan.
Step 4
Turn cake out onto rack and carefully peel away parchment paper; discard. Invert cake onto a plate (it should be right side up now). Serve slices topped with sweetened whipped cream or crème fraîche if desired.
Do Ahead: Cake can be baked 2 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.
How would you rate Pear Snacking Cake With Chocolate and Rosemary?
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Reviews (0)
Back to TopI never leave reviews but for this delicious cake, I had to! The cake is moist and tender. the pears, chocolate and rosemary are outstanding together - sweet but not to sweet. I think the addition of rosemary is genius!
Bonita
Herriman, Utah
12/25/2023
Outstanding! I followed this to the "t", and loved how clearly it was written, with amounts included in the text of the recipe. I wish more recipes followed this form. The cake was perfectly moist, with a lovely, nuanced flavor. The rosemary truly elevates this dessert, marrying well with the chocolate and pear. My son requested this cake for his birthday and was delighted.
Kris Groh
Ann Arbor, MI
12/8/2023
This was a very interesting cake!! I still haven’t decided if I like it or not!! I used fat free Greek yogurt because that is what I had on hand. Everything else according to the recipe. I find the cake is very moist, the pear flavor comes through nicely. I’m not sure I like the chocolate. The pear and rosemary are a very nice pairing, but the chocolate seems to muddle things up? I liked that the rosemary and sugar are on top of the cake, rather than in it. It reads savory, not terribly sweet, but yet it seems like cake!!! I keep taking a slice so I must like it, but I think it needs some tweaking. Maybe nuts instead of chocolate as another reviewer mentioned? I look forward to other reviews…meanwhile I think I’ll go cut another slice!! Lol
Marie Bennett
Houston, TX
10/17/2023
I made this cake exactly as directed and it came out very dry. I think there is not quite enough yogurt to tenderize or oil to keep it moist (the proportions of those ingredients seem much lower here than in other recipes). I would agree that it's not too sweet, which makes it nice for a snacking cake, and the rosemary additional is excellent with the pears and not too overpowering. However, the super dry texture really overpowers everything and it feels like a waste of good pears and chocolate. I wouldn't make again.
EB
10/15/2023
Sensational recipe!!! Very easy and straight-forward. I used Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Baking Chips (that's what I had on hand). I did everything else exactly as written. Really delicious with or without the cream. The perfectly ripe, Bartlett pears were perfect, but I suspect this can also be made using apples if pears are not available. My picky, picky daughter loved it because I resisted the temptation to add some toasted, coarsely chopped pecans. I'll add the pecans next time as I love those nuts. This recipe is great as is, but there's plenty of room to use a little imagination and creativity for those who have it. Outstanding recipe. It really made my day. I'm doing my best not to eat the whole thing today.
StuKin
Stamford, CT
10/15/2023