Pear Almond Coffee Cake
The only way to start the day….cake for breakfast! This Pear Almond Coffee Cake is moist and sweet with a little tang from a secret ingredient I used to keep it a little lighter. A great addition to any brunch or holiday gathering.
You knew it was coming…..the balance. The semi-indulgent recipe the day after I post an extremely (yet, VERY tasty) healthy recipe. You gotta live a little bit, right? And that means doing, and eating, things that you love. Or love to hate. Like…let’s talk about exercise for a moment, shall we? I’m not a huge fan of it, to be honest but I like my pants to not strangle my waist….and I spent a season just wearing dresses and skirts to avoid the whole waist strangulation. That works but when you decide it’s too chilly to wear dresses and you want to wear pants, you may have grown a bit. So…working out in some form is definitely the way to go for me. I run, mostly, but it gets really boring. So, today I tried something new.
My daughter drug my lazy butt to a Barre class and if you’re not familiar with the Barre method, it is…essentially, just as it sounds. The room looks like a dance studio with ballet barre(s?) all around and then you do a bazillion squats and leg lifts and static type exercises that make you feel like your limbs will most definitely fall off your torso by the end. They don’t. I’m still in tact, however, I’m not so sure I’ll be able to climb (or descend) steps for the next few days. It’s tough…but only because I’m super competitive and when I’m in a roomful of people I must not give up. I must not be the weak one. Even though, I was totally about to die.
I worked out so hard that I even ordered a healthy lunch when I met up with my friend, Allie, later that afternoon. I even ordered my coffee black. (Gasp!) But then, I had dessert….because balance. Right? And that’s where this Pear Almond Coffee Cake comes in…..because I know that’s what you’re here for today and are getting impatient with my rambling.
This Pear Almond Coffee Cake came about because I had a bunch of pears that were getting ripe and needed a new home. A tasty, pillowy, cinnamon loaded home that’s perfect for entertaining friends…or yourself. I used my favorite Blueberry Coconut Coffee Cake as my inspiration and just switched around a few things to create this pear almond dream. It’s light and airy and moist….it’s the perfect treat to eat when you’re craving something sweet for breakfast. Not as fun as my funfetti coffee cake muffins but definitely a nice departure from a regular coffee cake.
The sweet pears sink down into the cake while it bakes delivering their flavor right into the batter. The almonds offer the perfect amount of crunch and that cinnamon crumb topping is simply the icing on the cake….so to speak. I baked it in a springform pan just to mix things up but you certainly can bake it in a baking dish like I did with my Gingerbread Coffee Cake. And this Pear Almond Coffee Cake is splendid with a tall glass of cold brew while you’re home sulking over your sore muscles from your beginner barre class….or that’s just me. 🙂
Get the Recipe: Pear Almond Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plain fat free greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. (Or you can use a 9 inch springform pan as I did in the photos.)
- In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, coconut oil and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until thoroughly combined. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternatively with the yogurt mixture until well combined. Stir in the vanilla.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and top with the sliced pears. Whisk together the nuts, sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake for 40 -45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes before serving.