Apple Pear Cake
A moist, warmly spiced apple pear cake that combines fresh fruit and tender crumb into an easy dessert perfect for fall and holiday baking.
Servings: 12 servings
Equipment
- baking pan
Ingredients
- 2 Bartlett pears
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- 1 Macintosh Apple
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease your baking pan well. Fruit cakes stick easily because of their moisture and sugar content.
- Peel, core, and dice the apples and pears into evenly sized pieces.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.This step traps air and helps create a lighter texture.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla extract and any citrus zest if using.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients gradually to the wet ingredients. Mix only until combined.
- Gently fold in the diced apples and pears with a spatula.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top evenly.
- Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool the cake in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring to a rack.
- Let the cake cool completely before slicing for the cleanest texture.
Smaller chunks distribute more evenly through the batter.
Overmixing develops gluten, making the cake dense.
Begin checking slightly early, as fruit moisture can affect baking time.
Notes
Tip- if you prepare the fruit before the batter, the fruit mix becomes too liquidy and causes the cake to stick to the pan. While this cake always tastes good, I have had some problems with it sticking, so choose your pan carefully, butter it well, and remove the cake carefully.