This Pear Ricotta Cake has a lovely light texture and stays moist and delicious for days. Bake it with the tree fruit of your choice and top it with a rich almond crumble for extra crunch.
Disclosure: This post is part of a partnership with Life’s Simple Ingredient. All opinions and experiences are my own.
I love baking with seasonal fruit. Not only is it delicious, but I figure a little extra vitamins and fibre are good for everyone! You’re going to love this fall flavoured vintage Apple Dapple Cake with tea or these sticky sweet and sour Plum Cinnamon Rolls for brunch.
Pear Ricotta Cake with Crumble Topping
This Pear Ricotta Cake is the cake to bake when you want just a little something sweet but not too decadent. It’s great with afternoon tea, for a sweet end to the day, or hey …even for breakfast! I’m not one to judge.
Who wouldn’t love a one layer snacking cake that keeps for days (if you can resist it that long!)? It bakes up easily in a springform pan and has a light, even texture without being too dry.
The secret to this cake recipe is the ricotta cheese. For a cake that doesn’t contain any butter or shortening, it’s astonishing how rich and moist it is. No one will ever know how low fat it is because of its stunning flavour.
This year we harvested a modest crop of pears from our backyard trees. My husband made some amazing pear cider from his allotted portion while I chose to do some baking and preserving. I was so thrilled to use our harvest in this delicious cake!
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Ricotta Cake, an Italian Tradition
A ricotta cake is a traditional Italian cake that became popular as a result of rationing during WWII. It features ricotta instead of more expensive and (sometimes) scarce butter. This cake was born from economy, practicality, and sacrifice.
This pear crumble cake recipe is pretty far from the classic orange or lemon ricotta cake. It contains chopped fruit instead of orange or lemon zest and is topped with a golden oat and almond crumble.
Ingredients for this Pear Ricotta Cake
It’s amazing how such simple ingredients can come together to make such a beautiful cake.
If you prefer to skip the topping altogether, simply arrange sliced pears over top of the batter before baking. Then, sprinkle a light layer of confectioner’s sugar over the top once it has cooled.
- Flour
- Baking Soda
- Ground Cardamom
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Brown Sugar
- Pears
- Ricotta Cheese
- Butter
- Oats
- Almonds
As I said, all you need to bake this wonderful cake are fairly common baking ingredients. All purpose flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, oats, cinnamon, and a little fancier …ground cardamom because it is just brilliant with pear.
Unsalted butter is always preferable in baking because it allows you to control the amount of salt. However, if you only have salted butter, go ahead and use that. Just remember to decrease the salt you add to the dry ingredients.
Use any style of pear you like. Mine were backyard pears and the over ripe ones are perfect for grating into the batter or dicing up. If you are skipping the topping, you’ll want to decorate with somewhat nicer pears.
What is Ricotta?
Ricotta is a creamy white Italian cheese with a texture similar to cottage cheese but with smaller curds. The best part is that it’s made from whey, which is a by-product of cheese making. It’s practically made from leftovers!
Without going into a lot of detail, the cheese making process involves removing the milk fat from cow’s or sheep’s milk. This results in two products: cheese and liquid whey. The whey is mostly protein, which can be made to coagulate under low pH and high temperature.
In Italian cuisine, ricotta can be used in both sweet (cakes, cheesecakes, cookies, and cannoli filling) and savoury applications (filled pasta, calzone, stromboli, and pasta sauces).
How to Make a Ricotta Cake
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Next, grease a 9 inch springform pan then line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the all purpose flour, salt, soda, and ground cardamom together. Set the dry ingredients aside for now as you mix the crumble ingredients together in a small bowl. The crumble mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
To make the batter, measure the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the room temperature eggs and mix vigorously with the paddle attachment until the mixture becomes light in colour and has a light sheen.
Cut a pear in half lengthwise, then cut out the core. Grate it cut side down on a box grater until only the skin remains. Discard and then grate the other half. Add the pear and ricotta to the wet mixture. Stir gently until almost combined.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just combined. It’s really important not to overmix the batter so that the cake bakes up light and airy.
Core, then dice up another pear in 1/2 inch chunks (peel if you prefer) then fold them gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Slice the other two pears in half lengthwise, core, then slice each half into wedges lengthwise. Arrange the pear wedges in a circular design on top of the batter then spoon the crumble evenly over the pears.
How to Tell When a Cake is Done Baking
Bake the cake for 50 minutes, then check with a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake. If it comes out wet, bake for another 10 minutes and check again.
Repeat, adding five minutes extra baking time until the cake tester comes out of the cake clean, the cake is ready. NOTE: You may need to cover the cake with aluminum foil if the slivered almonds start browning too much.
Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the outer ring of the springform pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature with a scoop of ice cream or a little whipped cream.
Can I Use Other Fruit in this Ricotta Cake?
You can use most tree fruits and some stone fruits in this cake if you are able to grate them. Pears and apples work the best while peaches and plums would only be suitable for slicing on top of the cake prior to baking.
How to Store Cake Leftovers
Store the cake in an airtight container on your kitchen counter. It will be good for three to four days, though it likely won’t be around for that long! The cake also freezes nicely for up to three months in the freezer.
If you make this Pear Ricotta Cake with Crumble Topping, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.
Pear Ricotta Cake with Crumble Topping
This Pear Ricotta Cake has a lovely light texture and stays moist and delicious for days. Bake it with the tree fruit of your choice and top it with a rich almond crumble for extra crunch.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- pinch salt
- 3 large eggs; room temperature
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 4 ripe pears
FOR THE CRUMBLE
- 2 tablespoons butter; melted
- 1/4 cup quick oats
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan then line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and ground cardamom together. Set aside.
- Mix the crumble ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs.
- Measure the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the room temperature eggs and mix vigorously with the paddle attachment until the mixture becomes light in colour and has a shiny light sheen.
- Cut a pear in half lengthwise, then cut out the core. Grate it cut side down on a box grater until only the skin remains. Discard. Add the pear and ricotta to the wet mixture. Stir gently until almost combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir until just combined.
- Core, then dice up another pear in 1/2 inch chunks (peel if you prefer) then fold them gently into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Slice the other two pears in half lengthwise, core, then slice each half into wedges lengthwise.
- Arrange the pear wedges in a circular design on top of the batter.
- Spoon the crumble evenly over the pears.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, then check with a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake. If it comes out wet, bake for another 10 minutes and check again. Repeat adding 5-10 minutes extra baking time until the cake tester comes out of the cake clean, the cake is ready. NOTE: You may need to cover the cake with aluminum foil if the slivered almonds start browning too much.
- Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the outer ring of the springform pan and let it cool completely.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 402Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 211mgCarbohydrates: 74gFiber: 4gSugar: 47gProtein: 9g
Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.
Can you clarify what type of flour you use? I wonder if some came out stodgy using plain flour where self raising flour was intended. This looks like my dream cake if I can clear up this issue!
HI Karina. I used all purpose flour. This isn’t meant to be a light textured cake. It’s substantial, though it shouldn’t be stodgy. It may have to do with the water content of the ricotta or fruit…
Thank you for recipe.
Mine came out too stoggy. I didnt over mix as I know over mixing develops flour gluten.
The recipe states ricotta to be added yet no advise/guidance if ricotta is mixed on its own prior to addimg the the fluffy egg mixture because ricotta cheese is a “dense” cheese. By adding cheese as is gently to egg mixture will be hard to not over mix….
My cake was not raw but stoggy…not sure why….will try it again and see…
I’m sorry your cake came out stodgy (?). I’m not sure what kind of ricotta you used, or what is available to you but the only ricotta I’ve ever seen or used is not ‘dense’. Of coarse, the tiny curds are packed into a container and yes, you can stir them up before adding if you think that makes a difference. Additionally, this cake certainly has a denser crumb than a cake that has been leavened with butter or oil.
Hi Bernice!
Thank you for your recipe.
Though I made this yesterday, sadly, mine came out to be really dense stodgy.
I used 10.5 oz pears and peeled all of them.
Do you have any idea why he result came out?
The taste was good, so I really want to bake it successfully!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Lena, the texture of this cake is denser than most, however it should not be stodgy. I recommend mixing it with a light touch as over mixing the batter will make it stodgy.
Thanks for your reply.
Actually I mixed it with a rubber spatula, so this might be the problem as you said.
Thank you for your advice! I’ll try to mix it with a lighter touch next time.
This sounds amazing! I love baking with ricotta and seasonal fruit too- yummy!
Great minds think alike! Thanks for stopping by Terri.
This was my first time using ricotta in cake. Not only did it turn out amazing but the whole family loved it!
So great to hear everyone loved the cake Kate. Thank you for letting me know!
The delicious pairs and creamy ricotta come together for a yummy cake, but the crumb topping really pulls this dessert together.
It really does, what a treat!
I absolutely love the addition of cardamom to this cake; it works perfectly with the pairs. And that texture – so soft and moist. This cake is just splendid <3
Yeah, there’s just something wonderful about pears and cardamom!
I’ve never made a ricotta cake before, but it looks so moist and yummy! I am definitely going to have to try this pear cake asap!
It is most certainly packed full of pear and super delicious.
This pear ricotta cake became one of my favorites! So easy to make and the flavors are out of this world!
So glad you enjoy it Veronika, it’s a keeper for sure.
Everything you could possibly want in a cake. This looks absolutely stunning…gorgeous photos. I wish I had a slice right now with a cup of tea. A perfect use for pears or apples too I’d imagine…lovely dessert.
Yes!! In fact, I think I will make my next one with apples and replace the cardamom with cinnamon.
Any recipe that has “pear” in it is already a must for me. But this cake is absolutely next level. Fantastic!
Thank you so much Elaine. I have to admit, it sure didn’t last long around here.
not sure which I like more, Pear or Ricotta… but seriously Bernice, I’d like one to go! thanks
Done!! Thanks for stopping by Nancy.
What a great combination. Ricotta works so well in cakes and paired with the pears…brilliant!
Yes, pears aren’t a fruit I bake with often so I was very happy with the combination.
What a delicious sounding dessert! Love the use of ricotta in the cake base and grating the pears to add moisture. Of course, the almond crumble won me over. This cake is going to get baked ASAP!
So great to hear Linda, happy baking!
I love every dessert with pears! This cake was absolutely delicious!
I love pears but really haven’t baked with them a lot. They are stunning in this cake.
This cake came out so pretty!
So glad the recipe worked for you. It’s a keeper!
This is one of my favourite Italian cakes! Love the crumble topping!
Me too! I think the crumble make it extra special.
I love rustic cakes. No fancy decorating is needed. Simple and delicious flavours are the star of the show.
Same…no need to fuss to enjoy a delicious cake.
This pear ricotta cake was delicious! I loved all the flavors!
So glad you enjoyed it Kayla! Thanks for baking one of my recipes.
This cake was absolutely amazing! The whole family loved it!
Glad your family loved it Elizabeth. Thanks for stopping by to let me know.
I love this recipe! I can’t believe that it’s low fat aswell because of the use of Ricotta! Brilliant.
Yes, I couldn’t believe it either…it’s so delicious!
This cake looks baked to perfection. I have pinned to try later. Thanks for sharing.
Happy baking Megan!!
I was given a whole bag of pears and was looking for a recipe to make good of them. This cake was delicious! I have never made a cake with ricotta before and now I’m wondering why not! Bookmarked for the future. Thanks.
This cake has such rich and unique flavors! It is stunning too!
Thank you so much Addie. I love that it’s super easy too. Way too easy…HA!