A moist chocolate cake with pears poached in vanilla and lemon. A fantastic combination with the sweet cake, and the whole pears look nice too.
Making a chocolate cake is easy, and by adding whole pears, you create a festive autumn cake.
By poaching the pears, they become extra tasty. But if you prefer not to poach them, use very ripe pears that are already soft. Hard pears will not soften enough during baking.
This recipe contains the following allergens. Click on the allergen to search for alternative recipes.
Made by Véronique
Published at 2025-10-21, this recipe is for 8 persons and takes 1 hours 30 minutes.
Founder of Ohmydish (since 2014), she prefers to spend all day in the kitchen. Once working in the hospitality industry as an independent chef, she loves helping you gain confidence in the kitchen. With her easy-to-follow recipes, handy tips, and cooking knowledge, you'll make the most delicious dishes yourself! The recipes are accessible to everyone, from beginners to advanced home cooks.
Updated at: 2025-11-12
Heat 750 ml of water with the zest and juice of 1 lemon, 80 grams of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Meanwhile, peel 4 pears and use a melon baller or small knife to remove the hard core from the bottom.
Poach the pears for about 10 minutes in the flavored water, making sure they don’t become too soft.
Melt 50 grams of dark chocolate, you can do this in a bain-marie or in the microwave.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius and grease a loaf pan with butter, a thin layer of flour, and optional baking paper.
Sift the cocoa powder together with the flour and baking powder.
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one by one and only add the next when the previous one is incorporated.
Add the melted chocolate and milk, and then the sifted flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder.
Stir until smooth and optionally place the batter in a piping bag for easier distribution.
Spread a layer of batter in the loaf pan, place the pears in a row in the center, and distribute the remaining batter around the pears.
Bake the cake for about 50 minutes to an hour. Open the oven door carefully to check if it’s done; opening it too quickly might cause the cake to sink.
Use a toothpick; if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Meanwhile, make the chocolate ganache by heating 60 grams of chocolate with 60 ml of cream and 25 grams of butter.
Let the ganache and the cake cool a bit. Meanwhile, toast a handful of almond flakes in a dry frying pan.
Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and finish with almond flakes. Enjoy!
Which pears are best for making cake?
For a cake, it’s best to use pears. Conference pears are the most common choice.
Is butter needed for chocolate ganache?
No, you can make chocolate ganache with just cream and chocolate. However, butter gives the ganache a nice shine and extra firmness.
Per 1 serving / piece:
| Amount | Ingredient | Allergens | Kcal | Carbs | Carbs of which sugars | Fat | Fat of which saturated | Protein | Fibers | Sodium | Iron | Calcium | Magnesium | Potassium | Phosphorus | Copper | Zinc | Iodine | Selenium | Vitamin C | Vitamin D | Vitamin A | Vitamin B1 | Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B6 | Vitamin B12 | Vitamin B11 | Vitamin E | Vitamin K | Vitamin K1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | gram | butter | milk | 147.00 | 0.14 g | 0.14 g | 16.50 g | 10.80 g | 0.14 g | - | 1.00 mg | 0.02 mg | 2.60 mg | 0.40 mg | 3.00 mg | 4.00 mg | - | 0.01 mg | - | - | - | 0.24 mg | 0.20 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 20 | gram | sugar | 80.40 | 19.80 g | 19.80 g | - | - | - | - | - | 0.02 mg | - | 0.40 mg | 0.80 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.5 | eggs | egg | 43.20 | 0.33 g | 0.06 g | 3.00 g | 0.75 g | 3.75 g | - | 36.00 mg | 0.54 mg | 15.00 mg | 3.00 mg | 39.00 mg | 54.00 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.39 mg | 10.50 µg | 9.21 µg | - | 0.54 mg | 0.06 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.09 mg | 0.05 mg | 0.69 µg | 18.00 µg | 0.33 mg | 0.08 µg | - | |
| 6.25 | gram | dark chocolate | soy | 32.06 | 3.06 g | 3.06 g | 2.06 g | 1.26 g | 0.33 g | 0.07 g | 1.25 mg | 0.20 mg | 4.06 mg | 6.25 mg | 25.00 mg | 18.13 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.13 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | - | 0.44 µg | - | - | - |
| 9.38 | ml | full milk | milk | 5.81 | 0.40 g | 0.40 g | 0.32 g | 0.20 g | 0.35 g | - | 4.13 mg | - | 11.25 mg | 0.94 mg | 15.00 mg | 9.28 mg | - | 0.05 mg | - | - | 0.19 mg | 0.01 mg | - | - | 0.02 mg | - | 0.04 µg | 0.38 µg | - | - | - |
| 3.75 | gram | cocoa powder | 15.41 | 0.41 g | 0.08 g | 0.92 g | 0.51 g | 0.74 g | 1.28 g | 3.38 mg | 0.47 mg | 4.31 mg | 19.50 mg | 56.25 mg | 24.60 mg | 0.15 mg | 0.13 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.03 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.01 mg | - | 1.05 µg | - | - | - | |
| 0.13 | teaspoon | baking powder | 0.78 | 0.19 g | - | - | - | - | - | 0.17 mg | - | - | - | 0.04 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 31.25 | gram | flour | gluten | 113.75 | 21.81 g | 0.47 g | 0.47 g | 0.06 g | 3.56 g | 0.88 g | 0.63 mg | 0.31 mg | 6.25 mg | 6.25 mg | 56.25 mg | 31.25 mg | 0.09 mg | 0.34 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.04 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.09 mg | - | 10.94 µg | - | - | - |
| 0.13 | small handful | of almond flakes | nuts, peanut, sesame seeds | 10.88 | 0.38 g | 0.08 g | 0.94 g | 0.08 g | 0.39 g | 0.22 g | 0.09 mg | 0.08 mg | 4.69 mg | 5.06 mg | 13.13 mg | 9.38 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.06 mg | - | 0.04 µg | - | - | 0.02 mg | - | 0.02 mg | - | - | 0.94 µg | 0.49 mg | 0.05 µg | - |
| 0.5 | pears | 40.50 | 8.25 g | 7.88 g | 0.22 g | - | 0.38 g | 2.10 g | 4.50 mg | 0.30 mg | 5.25 mg | 3.75 mg | 48.75 mg | 6.00 mg | 0.03 mg | 0.05 mg | - | - | 2.25 mg | - | - | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | 0.01 mg | - | 0.75 µg | - | - | - | ||
| 0.13 | lemon | 5.40 | 0.98 g | 0.45 g | 0.06 g | - | 0.08 g | 0.33 g | 0.30 mg | 0.02 mg | 1.50 mg | 1.50 mg | 22.50 mg | 3.00 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.02 mg | - | - | 6.75 mg | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | 0.01 mg | - | 1.20 µg | - | - | - | ||
| 0.13 | teaspoon | vanilla extract | 2.16 | 0.57 g | 0.57 g | - | - | - | - | 0.07 mg | - | 0.08 mg | 0.02 mg | 1.11 mg | 0.05 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 10 | gram | sugar | 40.20 | 9.90 g | 9.90 g | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | 0.20 mg | 0.40 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 62.5 | ml | water | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.5 | gram | dark chocolate | soy | 38.48 | 3.68 g | 3.68 g | 2.48 g | 1.52 g | 0.40 g | 0.08 g | 1.50 mg | 0.24 mg | 4.88 mg | 7.50 mg | 30.00 mg | 21.75 mg | 0.01 mg | 0.15 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.01 mg | - | - | 0.53 µg | - | - | - |
| 7.5 | ml | cream | milk | 25.28 | 0.21 g | 0.21 g | 2.70 g | 1.50 g | 0.15 g | - | 2.63 mg | - | 5.63 mg | 0.75 mg | 7.13 mg | 4.50 mg | - | 0.02 mg | - | - | 0.08 mg | 0.07 mg | 0.03 mg | - | 0.01 mg | - | 0.02 µg | 0.22 µg | - | - | - |
| 3.13 | gram | butter | milk | 22.97 | 0.02 g | 0.02 g | 2.58 g | 1.69 g | 0.02 g | - | 0.16 mg | - | 0.41 mg | 0.06 mg | 0.47 mg | 0.63 mg | - | - | - | - | - | 0.04 mg | 0.03 mg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 624.27 | 70.12 g | 46.79 g | 32.25 g | 18.36 g | 10.29 g | 4.96 g | 55.79 mg | 2.21 mg | 65.90 mg | 55.59 mg | 318.82 mg | 186.55 mg | 0.34 mg | 1.35 mg | 10.50 µg | 9.25 µg | 9.26 mg | 0.89 mg | 0.34 mg | 0.13 mg | 0.21 mg | 0.17 mg | 0.74 µg | 34.44 µg | 0.82 mg | 0.12 µg | - | ||||
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