Amaretto Pear Cake takes just 40 minutes to make! You don't even need a mixer. And, canned pears provide the perfect texture! A delicious cake that happens to be egg-free.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. (See notes, since ovens vary.) Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray.
Drain the pears, reserving ¼ cup of syrup. (You won't need the rest of the syrup.) Pat the pears dry with paper towels.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ½ teaspoon cinnamon until combined. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Whisk the almond extract into the milk and pour it over the flour mixture. Toss with a fork until just combined. Do not overmix.
Use a spatula greased with cooking spray to scrape the batter into the cake pan. Smooth the surface with the spatula until the batter is even and reaches the edges. Arrange the pears on top in a circular pattern.
Whisk the reserved heavy pear syrup with the amaretto and brush some on the pears and batter (you will brush more on later, after it bakes.) Sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon of cinnamon (use a fine mesh strainer for even distribution, if you wish.) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (See notes.)
Transfer the cake (in the pan) to a wire rack and let it cool for 15 minutes. Brush it again with some amaretto-pear syrup.
Invert the cake onto a plate. Remove the pan and invert again onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Serve the pear cake with extra amaretto-pear syrup brushed on the top and sides, if desired. You can add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if you wish.
Pour the rest of the amaretto-pear syrup over the remaining cake to keep it moist before storing it. Keep the cake covered at room temperature for up to five days (but if you have any cake with whipped cream on it, store it in the refrigerator).
Notes
Recipe ImprovementsI've been making a version of this cake for nearly 30 years. After adding amaretto several years ago, I recently improved the recipe further by adding almond extract. I also added more of the amaretto-pear syrup to keep the cake moist.I'm now calling for divided use of the cinnamon, so half of the cinnamon is in the batter and half is sprinkled on top. This way, the top of the cake doesn't get so dark after baking.Oven TemperatureI now bake the cake at a lower temperature for less time than the original recipe, which called for 400F for 45 minutes. I'm on my third oven, and noticed this bakes up faster with the newer model, so I changed the temperature to 375 F. If your oven tends to run a little cool, you may wish to bake this at 400 for 30-45 minutes.Whether you bake it at 375 F or 400 F, plan to check on it after 25 minutes, looking for the top to be golden brown. When it's reached that color, use a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center to see if it comes out clean. Also, when the cake is baking and you suddenly smell the aroma of cinnamon, it's a sign the cake is probably done.Can you use fresh pears?Canned pears work best in this recipe, because they have the perfect, soft texture and come with the heavy syrup needed for the glaze. If you want to use fresh pears, make sure they're overripe, and you'll have to make an amaretto simple syrup to use for the glaze.Can this eggless cake be made vegan?I haven't tried it, but you should be able to make this a vegan pear cake by using almond milk in place of dairy milk and vegan butter in place of regular butter. You need to use some type of butter, rather than oil, because the butter gets cut into the flour mixture to make coarse crumbs. It's similar to making biscuits.