This vegan pear cake is super moist and full of flavor! It's also simple to make with just one bowl and no electric mixer.
I feel like pumpkin and apple get all the attention when it comes to fall desserts. I'm totally guilty of favoring these flavors myself, with good reason — they're delicious! I love my apple cake and pumpkin cake. But today I'm sharing a delicious cake recipe that stars one of the season's more underappreciated flavors: pear!
This cake highlights the mellow sweetness of pears. It's a really simple dessert, which is great because not only is it easy to whip up, but it really lets the flavor and texture of fresh pears shine.
You don't need much in the way of equipment to make this one either. I love a cake that I can make without a mixer, and this one can be mixed with just a whisk and spoon! There's also no need for frosting or glaze, but you can dust it with a bit of powdered sugar to make it look fancy if you'd like.
Jump to:
Ingredients You'll Need
- Non-dairy milk. Use any variety of plant milk that's suitable for drinking. Oat milk, almond milk, soy milk, and cashew milk are all good options! Read my guide to dairy-free milk if you can't decided which to use.
- Vegetable oil. Feel free to use whatever type of oil you normally like to bake with, such as canola oil, corn oil, or melted coconut oil.
- Lemon juice.
- Vanilla extract.
- Lemon zest.
- Flour. We're using all-purpose wheat flour for this recipe, also known as white flour. I can't guarantee results with any other variety of flour.
- Sugar. Use organic granulated sugar to keep the recipe vegan. Non-organic sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Baking powder.
- Baking soda.
- Salt.
- Ground cinnamon.
- Pears. Any medium sized variety of pear will work for this recipe. I used a couple of D'Anjou pears, but other common varieties such as Bosc or Bartlett pears will work as well. Make sure that your pears are at the stage where they're just starting to ripen. If they're too ripe they'll release too much moisture and the cake could turn soggy.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Stir your wet ingredients together in a small cup or bowl: non-dairy milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Whisk your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Tip: Wet ingredients should be at room temperature. This rule generally applies to baked goods recipes, unless otherwise specified.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir everything up until the batter is fully combined.
Now gently stir diced pears into the batter.
Transfer the batter to an oiled and floured 9-inch round cake pan. Pop your cake into the oven and bake it until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Tip: Use a cake pan that's at least 2-inches deep to avoid a spill, and place a cookie sheet under the cake while it bakes just in case there are any drips.
Place your cake on a cooling rack and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan. Once you remove it from the pan you can optionally give it a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Then slice, serve and enjoy!
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan pear cake can be stored covered tightly with plastic wrap, or cut and carefully placed in an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for about 2 days, in the refrigerator for about 5 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Pear Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 medium pears (Note 1), peeled and diced (½-inch)
- Organic powdered sugar, for dusting, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. (Note 2)
- In a small container such as a liquid measuring cup, stir together the milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir everything together until combined.
- Fold in the diced pears.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan.
- Bake the cake for about 38 to 43 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean of batter.
- Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before removing it from the pan. (Note 3)
- Optionally, dust the cake with powdered sugar. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Ideally you'll want to use pears that are just starting to ripen. They should give slightly when pressed on with a finger. If they're too ripe they'll release too much juice and your cake will come out soggy.
- I recommend using a cake pan that's at least 2-inches tall, in order to hold all of the batter and accommodate for rising. It's also a good idea to place a baking sheet under the pan while it bakes, just in case there are any drips.
- Gently run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake if you have trouble removing it from the pan.
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
The best pear cake!! Tastes so delicious, incredible it's so easy to make. It freezes really well! I wrapped the cake in tinfoil, left it in the freezer for a week, and still tasted fresh and lush after it defrosted!
Can this recipe use can pears??
I don't see why not! Just drain them well before adding them.
This is a delicious cake! It was also very simple to pull together. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!
This was delicious! I followed the recipe as written. Never had pear cake before and my husband and I just said, "YUMMMM" when we took our first bite to the finish.