This easy pear cake recipe is an old-fashioned favorite, made with ripe fresh pears and warm spices.

Old-fashioned pear cake is a fabulous way to use up extra pears before they go bad! Make a spiced bundt cake with this simple recipe that’s sure to become a tradition in your home!

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As summer unfolds into fall, the season brings bounteous harvests of apples, prompting visitors to trek to local orchards for picking.

But another fruit that’s often overshadowed this time of year is pears!

Pear season typically overlaps with apple season, so many areas around the country get to enjoy sweet, soft, juicy pears to their hearts’ content.

My daughter and I adore fresh ripe pears, but sometimes I’m guilty of buying more than we can eat before they go bad.

So, I turn to our favorite pear recipes to make use of the sweet fruit while it’s at its peak.

This typically includes some delicious pear butter or pear jam, my popular pear bread recipe, pear banana cake, spiced pear muffins, warm pear cobbler, or even some banana pear bread.

This year, I decided to make an old-fashioned pear cake! It’s very similar in flavor to my pear bread that we love so much, but in bundt cake form.

Need an easy shortcut? Try my fresh pear cake made with cake mix!

Easy Fresh Pear Cake Recipe

You’ll love how easy it is to make this pear cake. You don’t need to meticulously slice and arrange the pear slices in a pretty design, like most pear-upside-down cakes.

It’s just a simple, old-fashioned bundt cake made with warm spices and the sweetness and moisture that only juicy pears can bring.

One thing I love about bundt cakes is how easy they are, yet how pretty they are.

You don’t have to do any fancy designs with frosting, you don’t have to assemble layers…it’s just a lovely cake without a lot of effort.

I like to dust the top of the cake with some powdered sugar, but you don’t have to. Really, this cake stands on its own and you don’t even need a glaze or icing.

You could serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream if you’d like!

What Kind of Pears Should I Use?

Because the pears are a star in this recipe, you’ll want to be sure you have the best pears for the job, which are ripe pears (or even overripe pears)!

I almost always use Bartlett pears, which turn a golden-yellow hue when ripe. They also have a soft give when you press on them.

If you don’t have fresh pears, you can also use canned pears–just be sure to drain them well first.

For another canned pear dessert, try my cake mix pear cobbler!

How to Make a Delicious Spiced Pear Cake

It’s really easy to make this simple yet tasty pear cake–all you need is pears and some pantry staples.

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• Flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Vegetable oil
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Pears
• Optional: Powdered sugar for dusting

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Mix dry ingredients. First, you’ll whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Mix wet ingredients. Next, you’ll combine the vegetable oil and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat it together, then add eggs and vanilla. Last, stir in the pears.

Finish batter Last, you’ll gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed just until combined. The batter will be pretty thick at this point.

Bake. Pour the cake batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake for about an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let it cool for a bit in the pan before inverting it onto a serving plate. Once it’s cool, give the moist cake a dusting of powdered sugar if you’d like.

Notes and Adaptations:

• Feel free to add chopped walnuts or pecans to this easy recipe if you’d like.
• Canned pears can be substituted for the fresh pears, as long as you drain them well.
• I also use vegetable oil and white sugar in this recipe. If you prefer butter, be sure to use softened butter that’s come to room temperature. You could also substitute in half brown sugar if you’d like.
• You can serve this as dessert with whipped cream or ice cream (and a drizzle of caramel sauce), or as a coffee cake for breakfast along with your coffee, hot cocoa, or a cup of tea