Deliciously impressive and easy to make red wine spiced poached pear and chocolate cake. Stunning deep ruby whole pears popping out of a moist and boozy chocolate cake…fall and winter baking at its very best!
We often cook with wine, using it to deglaze a pan or enhance the flavor of a stew or sauce. But how about baking sweets with it?!?! I first tried doing so when I made this Red Wine Chocolate Snack Cake. And I became an instant let’s-add-wine-to-my-desserts convert!
I’ve tweaked the recipe, added some seasonal fall flair in the form of whole poached pears, spiced up the wine, and simplified the ganache. The result is this deliciously complex and slightly boozy Spiced Red Wine, Pear, & Chocolate Cake.
Why this Recipe Works
- Poaching the pears pre-baking them in the cake ensure that they’re don’t dry out and are scrumptiously tender by the time the cake is all done.
- Using Bosc pears for poaching ensures that they hold their shape and don’t become mushy when poached.
- The spice infused wine adds an unexpected spicy and fruity note that brightens the chocolate batter.
- Adding spiced wine to the ganache adds an additional complex layer of kick to cake.
I enjoy sipping on spiced red wine (also called mulled wine) throughout the late fall and winter. There’s something quite medicinal about spices simmered in red wine and it really warms the body from the inside out.
What is Chocolate Ganache?
Fret not if you think Chocolate Ganache sounds fancy or difficult to make. Cause it’s really simple and only requires two ingredients: chocolate & heavy whipping cream. That’s it. Heat the cream on the stovetop and pour the warm cream over the chocolate, let it sit for 2-3 min, give it a good whisk, and voila, the ganache is made.
How to Poach Pears
- Carefully peel whole pears, leaving stems intact, and place in the simmering spiced wine (or another liquid of your choice).
- Be sure to start with firm, ripe pears. My go-to favorite choice for poaching are Bosc pears since they keep their shape so nicely. Avoid soft pears, like Comice or Bartlett, as they’ll fall apart during poaching.
- It’s a great trick to cut a bit off the bottom of each pear so that they can stand up easily in the liquid (and then later in the batter).
- If the liquid doesn’t completely cover the pears, be sure to turn them every so often while they’re simmering, to ensure even coloring and thorough cooking.
Whole peeled pears are poached in this spiced red wine, turning them a marvelous deep ruby color.
Get playful and feel free to customize the spices that you use!
How to Make this Spiced Red Wine Pear & Chocolate Cake
- Poach pears (see above for more detail)
- The batter easily and quickly comes together with two bowls and a whisk.
- Pour batter into springform pan and nestle pears, bottom side down, in batter in pan and bake.
- Make chocolate ganache (see above for more detail)
- Let cake cool then brush with chocolate ganache.
- Sip any leftover spiced red wine and marvel at the beauty of the cake ya just made.
Cooks Tips
- Be sure to cut a bit off the bottom of each pear so that they easily stand up in both the poaching liquid and batter.
- Choose Bosc (or similar pairs) that won’t turn to mush when poached.
- If you own a springform pan, now is the time to use it.
Can we please talk about how fabulously fun it looks to cut into a cake a see a whole pear in there?!?!
Hope it’s as exciting for you as it is for me! And it makes the cake seem a tad bit healthier, right?! After all, we’re eating a nice amount of fruit in addition to all that chocolate and red wine (and butter and sugar…).
It’s the cake you never knew about that your holiday table had been missing!
Have ya tried this recipe? I’d love to hear about it and see it too! Please leave a comment below and take a pic and tag it on Instagram with #chefdanielagerson. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more colorfully delicious food and all sorts of awesome adventures!
I suggest ya make some extra spiced red wine while you’re at it. So let’s get cooking and…Let’s make waves in the kitchen!
Spiced Red Wine Pear & Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
For the Spiced Red Wine Poached Pears
- 2.5 cups dry red wine such as cabernet or merlot
- 8 Bosc pears
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 long strips orange peel
- 1 orange juiced
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 star anise
- 2 cardamom pods
For the Cake
- 1/2 cup
unsalted butter melted, plus a bit more for greasing
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup spiced red wine
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Chocolate Ganache
- 4 ounces semisweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate chips about 2/3 cups
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons spiced red wine
Instructions
- To make the spiced red wine poached pears, bring all the ingredients (except for the pears) to a boil in a large saucepan and let simmer while you peal the pears.
- While poaching liquid is simmering, peel pears, leaving the stem in tact. Slice a thin cut from the bottom to create a flat surface so the pears can easily stand.
- Gently place the pears in the simmering poaching liquid and poach for 30 min, turning every 5 min or so, to ensure even color. Then allow to cool slightly while you prepare the cake.
- Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter.
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder baking soda, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together sugar, egg and melted butter in a large bowl until pale.
- Gently remove the pears from the poaching liquid and set aside.
- Strain the red wine and add 1 cup of it to the butter mixture (set the rest aside to be used in the ganache), whisk to combine. Whisk in vanilla and flour mixture until all combined.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top then place the pears bottom side down in the batter.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45-50 min. Let cake cool.
- To make the ganache, place chocolate into a bowl. Warm up the cream and wine in a small saucepan on the stove until simmering. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and let it sit for a min. Stir to combine.
- Brush ganache on top of cake, letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, and let stand until ganache is set, about 30 minutes. Any leftover ganache can be served along side the cake. Enjoy!
Notes
- Be sure to cut a bit off the bottom of each pear so that they easily stand up in both the poaching liquid and batter.
- Choose Bosc (or similar pairs) that won’t turn to mush when poached.
- If you own a springform pan, now is the time to use it.
I can not wait to try this!!!
Thank ya so much!!! And please let me know how it comes out when ya do :). ??
How delicious , can’t wait to make it??????????
YAYA! So super stoked to hear that! Thank you :). ?
I am going to make this tomorrow for my wine group. It looks and sounds wonderful.
So stoked to hear that! Please let me know how it goes :). ???
The cake is a showstopper. My guests kept taking pictures. Once cut, they couldn’t stop the compliments. Some had bigger pieces of pears and others had more of the cake. There were switching of pieces of cake going on. I wanted more of the cake less pears only because the chocolate was really delicious, and the ganache was so sublime. I did love the pears though. I was thinking of just poaching the pears alone for a future dessert. As noted in the recipe you suggested drinking the left over wine with the cake. I didn’t have that much of the wine left as there were six of us, so I put the wine in little cordial glasses and it was just the perfect touch. I will make this again. My only question to you is how did you get the cake out of the cake pan? I thought I needed parchment paper and used it in my cake pan. I waited until the cake was completely cool and transferred it to a platter. I then had to cut around the cake to remove the parchment. Maybe the next time I would use a spring form pan. Your thoughts? Also the recipe called for 8 Bosc pears. My 9-inch cake pan could only hold 6. Maybe the pears were too big. Anyway, my daughter, her husband and my husband got some of the left overs, (not that much) and they just loved it too. This is a special cake. Really very artistic. I enjoyed my time baking this cake.
I made this cake for Valentines Day, it was delicious and beautiful. Daniela your instructions were very good and you made baking this cake easy. I recommend this recipe to everyone, don't be intimidated it looks difficult but it is not. Yes the pairs turn it into a health food cake 🙂 and use that spring form pan that has been in your kitchen cabinet forever.
Thank you for your creativity, you made this recipe fun.
Awesome Kay!!!! Thanks so much for the feedback! It was super sweet music to my ears :). Its exactly feedback like this that keeps me going too! And I can't thank you enough for recommending this cake to everyone. Really appreciate it!
Will non alcoholic beverages such as pomegranate, grape or cranberry juice work just as well in place of wine?
Yes absolutely! Swap the juice for the wine and follow all the same steps. Would love to hear how it comes out Judith :).
Thank you for the recipe, the cake does look amazing.
A few things I wish were different - measurements in grams as it's difficult to be precise with flour, cocoa etc in cups. Also it'd be good to know if 350F is in fan or no fan as it's a big difference. The cake is great but I would cut the sugar in wine and the batter as well - it's a dash too intense to eat
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave this feedback Ana! Really appreciate it :). Will re-make the cake + test the sugar quantity + update. It's just a regular, conventional oven. Thanks again!
Jeannette
Feb. 14, 2021
Made it today for Valentine's 2021. Both components are simple...especially the cake batter. This is a case in which the whole is greater than its parts. The only problem, because I have 8" and 10" springform pans, I used a standard 9" cake pan. I have no idea how to remove the cooled cake. I think this recipe rates the indulgence of purchasing a 9" springform.
This recipe will go into my special binder for Covid Era Food Discoveries.
Thank you Waves In the Kitchen!
Absolute pleasure Jeannette and sorry to hear about your springform pan troubles. Super stoked to hear the recipe is making it to your special binger and can't wait for ya to make it again :-):):)
Looks delicious!! I was looking for a description of how to pouch fruit. I guess the way you did it is like poaching an egg. Very clever cake!!
Thank you so much for the sweet feedback Terri! Seeing a whole poached pear in a cake never seizes to amaze :).