This pear yogurt cake gets its ultra-moist texture from yogurt, stewed pears, and white chocolate chips. All three combined give this bundt cake its signature tender softness.
Pear Yogurt Cake: Key Ingredients
Yogurt
- I use La Fermière yogurt (vanilla flavor) because of its creamy texture but you can use plain yogurt or Greek yogurt as well. If you’re using plain unsweetened yogurt you might consider increasing the sugar by a few tablespoons.
- Make sure to add the yogurt when you add the eggs and vanilla and that it’s incorporated into the batter to ensure there are no big yogurt clumps.
Fruit
- I used pears for this cake, but I’ve also done it with stewed apples and it has turned out super moist in each case.
- Note: The stewed fruit in this recipe doesn’t impart a specific pear or apple flavor to the cake. Instead, they give the cake its signature tenderness. If you prefer a more pronounced pear flavor, feel free to peel and chop up a third pear and add directly into the batter.
- I use two small-medium pears (or two small-medium apples), peel them, and dice them into small pieces (about half an inch in size), then put them in a small pot on medium. I don’t add anything to the pears but you can add vanilla extract or honey. For the apples, I add a tablespoon of water and let them cook on medium, stirring frequently. After 10-12 minutes or so, the fruit should be softened. Turn off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
White Chocolate
- The white chocolate chips melt while baking and give this pear yogurt bundt cake its signature super tender and soft texture. But they are are optional! The cake will still be delicious without them.
To Bundt or Not to Bundt?
I’ve made this recipe about a dozen times and have always used a 10-cup Nordicware Bundt pan. I like to use the decorative Bundt pans because they produce a very elegant cake, especially when it’s dusted with some powdered sugar. But you can also scale this recipe down to fit a 5-cup Bundt pan or an 8-inch round cake tin. This cake would also work very well as a layered cake with a pear-infused white chocolate ganache (in fact, that may be coming up on the blog soon….!)
In either case, this cake lasts about 2-3 days when wrapped in seran wrap, but it also freezes really well. I like to freeze individual slices and defrost in the microwave in two increments of 10 seconds.
Pear Yogurt Cake
This pear yogurt cake gets its ultra-moist texture from yogurt, stewed pears (or apples!) and white chocolate chips. All three combined give this bundt cake its signature tender softness.
Equipment
- 1 Bundt tin (10cup capacity)
Ingredients
- 10 tbsp butter, room temp plus a ½tbsp more for greasing the tin
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ⅔ cup yogurt
- ½ cup stewed pears or apples
- 1½ cup flour
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar (for decorating, optional)
Instructions
- For the stewed apples or pears: Peel two small or medium-sized pears or apples and dice into 1/2 inch chunk pieces. Place in a small pot and heat to medium/ medium-high. Once it starts cooking, stir the fruit every few minutes for about 10 minutes. After 10-12 minutes the fruit should be softened. Turn of the heat and set the fruit aside. Note: if you're using apples, then add a tablespoon of water into the pot since they have a lower water content than pears.
- Grease the cake or bundt tin with butter (use a pastry brush to make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies). Lightly dust with flour (about 1/2 tablespoon). Preheat the oven to 350°
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar on medium high with a handheld mixer. Mix until the ingredients get paler in color (2-3 minutes).
- Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, pears, and yogurt. Mix on medium until all combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into greased tin. Place in oven and bake until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (45-48 minutes).
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Take a cooling rack and place on top of cake. Gently flip the cake over so that the cooling rack ends up on the bottom. Gingerly remove the tin. The tin should come off easily if properly greased beforehand.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy! This cake keeps for 2-3 days wrapped in plastic wrap but it can also be frozen.