:: UPDATED NOV. 27, 2021 :: Ah yes, the Pear Coffee Cake. This cake is such a stunner, guys. She just slays the breakfast table, the brunch table, the after-school snack table, the dessert table …. you get the picture. Packed with juicy, sweet pears and a massively delicious (and addictive) buttery streusel topping, this cake is to. die. for. And also, on a relatively worthless yet still somewhat relevant note, I was once asked what my favorite food is, and in a single frazzled, grasping blurt, I replied, “ummm, streusel?”

Table of Contents

Anyway, that’s neither here nor there. But this pear coffee cake? It deserves our full attention to be sure. Read on to learn a little more about this favorite little cake of mine, or simply jump ahead to the recipe itself. Up to you!

Pear Coffee Cake with Streusel

The older I get, and the more time I spend cooking and baking and sharing food/recipes with people, the more in love I fall with cakes of this nature – the simple, unassuming, coffee cake-esque ones that need no extra faffing with frosting or sprinkles or rosettes or drizzles and drips of chocolate. They are made from a few humble ingredients, wielded in smart ways to maximize their flavors and superpowers (a hallmark of what we try to share here on My Kitchen Little) and end up being so much greater than the sums of their parts. They are brilliant, these cakes, and somehow always appropriate. Today, I’m sharing one of the very best.

Coffee Cake Tips and Tricks

Tread lightly. Don’t over-mix! As with any cake ever, really a huge key here is to not over-mix things. As soon as the liquids go into the batter, they will essentially activate the glutens (protein) in the self-rising flour and continue to strengthen (read: toughen) with each and every stir. It’s true! And it’s fine. Just gently mix your batter, stopping as soon as it looks fully combined. You just don’t want and steaks of raw, unmixed flour going on.
A little bit of lemon makes all the difference. I love pears so much – they’re underutilized in my opinion, in the autumnal and winter cake department. As such, I like to use them as much as possible. In fact, my favorite recipe in my first cookbook is actually a balsamic and vanilla-braised pear recipe that is TO DIE FOR. Anyway. Pears need acid to really help them to achieve their full potential (hence the balsamic in the aforementioned recipe). In this cake, I’m going to have you simply toss the sliced pears in some fresh lemon juice before adding them into the cake. This, combined with the also acidic power of buttermilk, helps the pears taste really great. It’s technically an optional step, but one worth doing. Also, lemons are the sort of ingredient we should always have around, all of the time.

What is the best type of pear to bake with?

At any given time, there are usually at least three varieties of pear available at your average American supermarket. This is nice, because options are nice, sure. But it can also leave you scratching your head in the aisle, just totally flummoxed over which type to purchase. WHICH KIND IS BEST FOR MY COFFEE CAKE!?

No worries, friend. I’ve got you.

Now, the short of it is this: Bartlett. Bosc. Anjou. Those three are (mostly) interchangeable when it comes to baking. For my money (and by money, I mean cakes), I actually like to mix and match my produce when baking and/or cooking. For example, this recipe calls for two pears. So, I’d grab two totally different types. This will give you a rounder, deeper, more “PEAR!” flavor throughout your cake. Which is very much the point.

Bartlett

These are the ones that have that true, iconic pear shape. So, you’ll know them when you see them. Bartlett pears sport wide, rounded bottom halves that thin out and taper off to with a large, slender necks. These are usually the ones people opt to can with, due to their reliably firm texture that hols up well to heat (they retain their flavor nicely).

You’ll see both yellow and red varieties out there, and the colors actually grow and intensify the longer the pears sit out and ripen. This is unique to the Bartlett pear and helpful because it’s almost like a built-in color-changing ripeness gauge. When they’re totally ripe, Bartlett’s will go from green to a yellow-ish, peridot shade (my birthstone!) and their skins get smooth and the interior flesh gets quite soft – “buttery” if you will. Check for ripeness daily.

Bosc

Bosc pears are the long ones – they don’t have that iconic pear-like shape of the Bartlett, but are lovely in their own right. Bosc pears have a little more crunch going on than Bartletts, they’r snappy and still juicy (I love them the most, personally). They don’t turn to total mush at the sight of a hot oven, and will actually retain their shape for you upon a long bake. This is fantastic news! If you purchase hard-as-rocks, unripened pears, just leave them on your kitchen countertop and leave them be for like, 4 or 5 days until they’re soft enough to actually not break your teeth. I’m kidding. These pears just tend to not get as soft as other pear types, so just keep that in mind.

Anjou

Short, chubby and all-around adorable in stature, Anjous look bell-like in shape and definitely are in the running for “most congenial” when it comes to the pear popularity contest. Y’all, these pears will last for blooming EVER on the shelf, which I why I personally love them. I am the type to buy lots of pretty pears in the fall, only to have them bruise and rot on me before I even get the chance to enjoy them. With Anjous, at least I have a larger window of time before they go all gross on me. These are “all purpose” pears, and wonderful for baking/cooking.

When ripe, Anjou pears are soft (though firmer than Bartlett pears) with a buttery yet slightly gritty flesh. They’re also juicy—if you take a bite, you’ll want to keep a napkin handy. It’s hard to beat their sweet citrus-like flavor. Anjou pears are especially great for baking because they can withstand high temperatures. We love using them for pies and tarts.
Bake From Scratch

How ripe should pears be for baking?

You want your baking pears to be almost ripe – just to the point of ripeness but not yet having crossed that finish line. This is due to the simple fact that the intense heat of the oven will really break them down, making them super soft and tender. So, you want then to still have a little bit of snap/firmness to them when they go in the oven, so as to not turn into total, and utter mush.

How to make Pear Coffee Cake

The recipe for this cake is so simple, with only a handful of ingredients being all you need to whip it up. My trick really lies in the use of self-rising flour. Unlike all-purpose flour, self-rising flour already has some leavening agents inside – baking soda, baking powder, etc. – and therefore eliminates the need to add those to the recipe. It helps to really streamline things, and if you find the right uses for it (there really are tons) it can be such a helpful pinch-hitter in your kitchen.

Spiced with warm cinnamon, toasty hazelnuts (or whatever nut you choose), brown sugar, and sweet cream butter, this Butter Nut Pear Cake with Streusel is the best fall treat I’ve created in some time.

INGREDIENTS

2 pears, any kind, cored and sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 ¾ cups packed light brown sugar, divided
1 cup Self-Rising Flour, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
12 TBSP butter, at room temperature (1.5 sticks)
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 scant tsp almond extract

DIRECTIONS

PREHEAT your oven to 350°F. Spray a 10-inch cast iron skillet, spring form pan, baking dish, or 9-inch square pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Put the sliced pears in a bowl and toss with lemon juice.
COMBINE 1 cup of the brown sugar, ¼ cup of the self-rising flour, the cinnamon, nuts, and 4 TBSP of the butter in a medium bowl and, using your fingers or a fork, mix together until everything is well-combined and crumbly like course sand.
COMBINE the remaining ¾ cup brown sugar and the remaining stick of butter in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs just until blended. Beat in the buttermilk and almond extract. Add the remaining ¾ cup flour. Beat at low speed until blended.
SPREAD the batter in the prepared skillet. Top with sliced pears followed by the crumb mixture.
BAKE 45 to 50 minutes or just until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of pan. Cool in the pan almost completely before removing or slicing.