As the holidays approach, it’s the perfect time for spiced, cozy baking. This spiced chocolate pear cake combines a deeply chocolate, warmly spiced cake with tender pear slices and a crunchy hazelnut streusel. It’s delightful for breakfast, brunch, or as an elegant alternative to pie on your dessert table.
In a few words, this spiced chocolate cake is:
- Rich and chocolate-forward
- Moist
- Sweet with floral pear notes
- Finished with a crunchy, spiced hazelnut streusel
- Comforting and seasonal
- Perfect for holiday breakfasts, brunches, or casual desserts
What ingredients do I need to make this cake?
- All-purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Hazelnuts (or substitute another nut)
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground ginger
- Unsalted butter
- Cake flour
- Dutch-process cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Neutral oil (canola, light olive, or similar)
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Whole milk
- Sour cream
- Ripe but firm pears
- Chocolate-hazelnut spread (optional drizzle)
These ingredients are used for the spiced chocolate cake, the hazelnut streusel topping, and an optional chocolate-hazelnut drizzle.
What baking tools do I need?
- A whisk, spoon or flexible spatula and several mixing bowls
- 9″ (23 cm) springform pan or a 9×9 pan lined with parchment
- Parchment paper to line the pan
- Vegetable peeler or small knife for preparing pears
- Food thermometer (optional) to check doneness
Natural cocoa powder vs. Dutch-process cocoa powder
Does it matter? Yes — the powders are processed differently.
- Natural unsweetened cocoa powder: Ground cocoa beans with an acidic profile. It reacts with baking soda and tends to be brighter and slightly bitter.
- Dutch-process cocoa powder: Cocoa beans treated with an alkaline solution, which neutralizes acidity. It’s mellower, darker, and best matched with baking powder rather than baking soda.
- Black cocoa powder: Heavily dutched and very dark in color. It’s useful as a color booster and has an intense, less bitter flavor.
Tips and tricks for a perfectly delicious spiced pear cake
Best substitutions:
- All-purpose flour: For a gluten-free option use a trusted 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in equal measure.
- Cake flour: Make a DIY cake flour by removing 1 tablespoon of a ½ cup of all-purpose flour and replacing it with 1 tablespoon cornstarch, then sift several times.
- Pears: If pears aren’t available, consider figs, blackberries, raspberries, or cranberries as alternatives.
- Flavor enhancers: Espresso, cinnamon and ginger deepen the chocolate flavor. Use what you have — omitting espresso is fine if unavailable.
- Sugar: Swap in a sugar you commonly bake with; maple sugar works nicely for a warm note.
- Hazelnuts: Any nut can replace hazelnuts, or omit nuts entirely for allergies.
Baking tips:
- Read the full recipe before you start.
- Fold ingredients gently — avoid overmixing to keep the crumb tender.
- Check for doneness by signs rather than relying strictly on time: the cake’s edges will pull slightly from the pan; the top should be golden without burning; a toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs.
- If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the remainder of baking.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20–25 minutes, then remove the ring and cool completely on a rack.
- Serve plain or drizzle with warmed chocolate-hazelnut spread for extra decadence.
Other delicious chocolate treats to try
- Red wine brownies
- No-bake brownies (vegan)
- Small chocolate tahini buttercream cake
- Chocolate olive oil loaf cake
- Citrus olive oil brownies
- Chocolate fig loaf cake
- Triple chocolate lavender brownies
- Salted tahini swirl olive oil brownies
If you try this recipe, please leave a star review below.
Tag me on Instagram @olivesnthyme if you share your bake.
Spiced chocolate pear cake with hazelnut streusel
Megan
A cinnamon- and ginger-spiced chocolate cake topped with sliced pears, a hazelnut streusel, and an optional drizzle of chocolate-hazelnut spread.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time
20
20
Cook Time
45
45
Cooling Time
20
20
Total Time
1 25
1 25
Course
Breakfast, Celebrations, Dessert
Breakfast, Celebrations, Dessert
Cuisine
American
American
Servings
1 9″ cake
1 9″ cake
Equipment
-
9″ (23cm) springform pan
-
Parchment paper
-
Large mixing bowl with whisk and spatula
-
Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
Spiced hazelnut streusel
- 1 c (120g) all-purpose flour
- ½ c (100g) light brown sugar
- ½ c (75g) roughly chopped hazelnuts
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 6 tbsp (85g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
Spiced chocolate cake
- 1 c (120g) all-purpose flour
- ½ c (60g) cake flour
- ½ c (46g) Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ c (118ml) neutral oil
- 1 c (200g) granulated sugar
- ¼ c (50g) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ c (79ml) whole milk, room temperature
- ⅓ c (82g) full-fat sour cream, room temperature
- 2-3 ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored and sliced
- ⅓ c (99g) chocolate-hazelnut spread, warmed (optional)
Instructions
Spiced hazelnut streusel
-
Whisk together the streusel dry ingredients in a small bowl. Work in cold cubes of butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand with some larger lumps. Chill while you prepare the cake batter.
Spiced chocolate cake
-
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a 9″ springform pan with parchment on the bottom and lightly grease the sides.
-
Whisk together all-purpose flour, cake flour, cocoa, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
-
Whisk oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and eggs until smooth and well combined.
-
Add the dry ingredients, sour cream, and milk to the wet ingredients, alternating in this order: dry, sour cream, dry, milk, dry. Stop when a few streaks remain; do not overmix.
-
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and arrange sliced pears over the batter.
-
Scatter the chilled streusel over the pears and batter, clustering pieces if you prefer larger crumbs. Gently press the streusel into the surface.
-
Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 50–60 minutes, checking around 45 minutes. If the streusel browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil. The cake is done when the edges pull slightly from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
-
Cool the cake in the pan for 20–25 minutes. Loosen the ring, remove it, and cool the cake completely on a rack. Drizzle with warm chocolate-hazelnut spread if desired, slice, and enjoy.
Notes
Cake flour: To make DIY cake flour, measure ½ cup all-purpose flour, remove 1 tablespoon, then add back 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Sift together several times.
Dutch-process cocoa: This cocoa pairs with baking powder. If you only have natural cocoa, omit the baking powder and use the same amount of natural cocoa with ½ teaspoon baking soda instead.
Did you make this recipe?
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