Spiced Pear Crumble Cake

Only 4 sleeps until Christmas!

We’ve had our first light dusting of snow here, and everything looks so festive and lovely! There’s a bit more snow in the forecast and I have my fingers crossed tightly so we might have a white Christmas!

I’ve finished work for the year and now can really focus on soaking up the holidays, spend time with family, and read a few books. There’s really nothing better than lazy days spent relaxing by the Christmas tree, listening to my favourite Dean Martin carols.

If you’re still in need of a sweet addition to your Christmas brunch menu – or to your holiday dessert table – this Spiced Pear Crumble Cake would be welcome!

Pears are a lovely alternative to apples, and when pears are paired (ha!) with warm cinnamon and an oatmeal brown sugar crumble topping, you get this yummy-in-your-tummy soft snack cake, perfect for brunch!

The great thing about snack cakes is that they are not overly sweet – more like a big muffin – and so you don’t have to feel guilty about eating it for breakfast.

Although I wouldn’t blame you if you did eat cake for breakfast.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be diving into the sweets before I set some lofty new years resolutions. (Thinking about trying sugar-free January! Am I crazy?!)

Happy Holidays to you and all your loved ones!

5 from 1 vote

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Spiced Pear Crumble Cake

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

45 mins

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

A less sweet snack cake, with pears ,warm cinnamon, and an oatmeal brown sugar crumble topping. Add it to your holiday brunch menu!

Course: Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake, crumble, pear, snack cake

Servings: 12

Author: breakfast for dinner

Ingredients

For the Crumb Topping:

• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, cold

For the Spiced Pear Cake:

• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups of pear, cored and peeled (peel may be left on)

Instructions

Make the crumb topping:

1. First, assemble the crumb topping. In a medium size bowl, stir together the rolled oats, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture is crumbly and resembles bread crumbs. Set the crumb topping aside.

Make the cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.
2. Grease a 8x8" or 9x9" square or round cake pan and lightly sprinkle with flour. (In the photos I've used two smaller round cake pans.)
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. In a medium size bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
5. Measure out the milk.
6. To the large bowl of wet ingredients, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients, and mix until just moistened. Then add ½ of the milk and mix until incorporated. Again, add ⅓ of the dry, ½ the milk, and the last ⅓ of the dry, mixing between each step. The batter will be very thick.
7. Gently fold in the pear.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it flat. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the cake.
9. Bake cake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
10. Cool the cake in the pan, then serve.

Recipe Notes

Tip:line your baking tray with parchment paper for even easier cake removal.
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.