Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake

This Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake is made with 3 whole poached pears. It’s an elegant and surprisingly easy pear dessert that’s perfect for celebrations!

Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake

When you bake as much as we do this weird thing happens where you make a recipe 5 times in one week….and then never again. Since we’re always developing new recipes, we rarely have the same baked goods in the house. But here’s an exception: this poached pear gingerbread loaf cake. This flavorful, gingerbread loaf cake with 3 whole poached pears is the perfect elevated dessert to make this holiday season.

How to Make this Poached Pear Cake:

Listen guys, I know this drunken pear gingerbread loaf looks fancy shmancy, but it’s actually not all that complicated to make! Simply peel and poach 3 bosch pears. Then make  the gingerbread cake batter. Pour the batter into a throughly greased loaf pan, nestling the 3 pears into the batter. Then bake!

That’s it!

How to Poach Pears:

Poached sounds scary, but it’s actually incredibly easy!

1. Peel your pears: Use a vegetable peeler to peel the pear completely, leaving the stems on.
2. Fill a large pot with the poaching liquid: We poached our pears in a mixture of wine, water, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom! Simply dump all the ingredients in a large pot.
3. Place the peeled pears in the poaching liquid: Make sure the pears are completely covered to ensure even cooking!
4. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer 45 minutes: Simmer the pears uncovered so that they soak up all those good flavahhhhs.
5. Allow to cool completely before using: Let the poaching liquid and the pears to cool

How Store this Poached Pear Cake:

This cake is best when eaten right away, but if you want to prep it advance, you definitely can! You can poach the pears up to 3 days in advance. This will make making the gingerbread loaf cake a breeze when you’re ready to eat! You can also cook the whole cake a day in advance and store loosely covered at room temperature or in the fridge!

Here’s to timeless recipes like this poached pear gingerbread loaf cake. We’ll be making this over and over again.

We hope you’ll join us.

• Author: Sarah | Broma Baker
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 2hrs
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

This Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake is made with 3 whole poached pears. It’s an elegant and surprisingly easy pear dessert that’s perfect for celebrations!

• Author: Sarah | Broma Baker
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 2hrs
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Units: USM

Ingredients

For the poached pears

• 3 bosc pears, peeled with stems left on
• 1 bottle (750ml) white wine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 10 cardamom pods

For the bread

• 12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated (I used a microplane)
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain non- or low-fat yogurt

Instructions

1. Heat the pears, white wine, sugar, water, and spices until boiling, then turn heat down to simmer. Continue to cook for 45 minutes, then remove pears from poaching liquid and allow to cool slightly.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heavily grease a large loaf pan with butter. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, molasses, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, beating for an additional 3 minutes. Stir in fresh grated ginger.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, whisking to combine. Slowly alternate folding in the flour mixture and the low fat yogurt into the wet ingredients until everything is combined.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, then place the pears bottom side down in the batter so they are nearly enveloped. Bake for 1 hour, then allow to sit for 20 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from pan!

Original Post:

I have always wanted to make a pear bread. I’m talking whole pears popping out of a beautiful dark loaf. And today, I did it. The wonderful part of this pear gingerbread loaf is how easy it is to make. Simply poach pears in white wine, sugar, and spices, then place them into a delicious gingerbread batter. 

This gingerbread loaf would be perfect for an afternoon tea or a weekend brunch. It has a sophistication that will wow and excite your guests, but a simplicity that won’t leave you slaving for hours in the kitchen.

It’s a total winner.

How to poach pears

Something tells me you don’t believe me when I say this gingerbread loaf is easy to make. And something else tells me you heard ‘poached pears’ and decided this bread wasn’t for you. But guys, I’m telling you, this recipe is so easy!

To poach the pears, literally all you have to do is peel them and stick them in a pot. Then, throw in some white wine, sugar, water, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom pods. Bring all that to a boil, then turn down the heat and cook for 45 minutes. That’s it! Poached pears are embarrassingly easy to make, but people will think you slaved away at this gingerbread loaf.

The reason you can’t just add the pears straight into the bread is because 1) They’d release a ton of unwanted moisture into the bread and keep it from baking all the way through, and 2) The pears themselves wouldn’t cook all the way. So you’d be left with this awkwardly crunchy pear bread that’s like not even done in most places. Yuck.

So yeah, poach those pears like the kitchen boss you are!

How to Assemble this Poached Pear Cake:

Once you’ve finished poaching the pears (hoorah!), the rest of this pear bread is a cinch to make. The gingerbread loaf comes together in less than 10 minutes and doesn’t require any special ingredients. Once the batter has been mixed up, pour it into the prepared loaf pan. Then gently place the pears into the batter, making sure they’re almost completely enveloped in it (the batter will rise up over them the rest of the way, don’t worry!).

After you’ve baked this gingerbread loaf, let it relax in the pan for 20 minutes before trying to take it out.

In other news, I touched down in Ann Arbor this afternoon, and am currently in Alex’s study. It’s so nice to be here as the weather is getting colder, and SO nice to be here with my love. Be sure to keep up with my travels on Snapchat: sarahfennell!

Happy weekend to all. MAKE THIS GINGERBREAD LOAF!

• Author: Sarah | Broma Baker
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 2hrs
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

This Poached Pear Gingerbread Loaf Cake is made with 3 whole poached pears. It’s an elegant and surprisingly easy pear dessert that’s perfect for celebrations!

• Author: Sarah | Broma Baker
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 2hrs
• Yield: 16 servings
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

Units: USM

Ingredients

For the poached pears

• 3 bosc pears, peeled with stems left on
• 1 bottle (750ml) white wine
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 10 cardamom pods

For the bread

• 12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated (I used a microplane)
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plain non- or low-fat yogurt

Instructions

1. Heat the pears, white wine, sugar, water, and spices until boiling, then turn heat down to simmer. Continue to cook for 45 minutes, then remove pears from poaching liquid and allow to cool slightly.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Heavily grease a large loaf pan with butter. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, molasses, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract, beating for an additional 3 minutes. Stir in fresh grated ginger.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, whisking to combine. Slowly alternate folding in the flour mixture and the low fat yogurt into the wet ingredients until everything is combined.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, then place the pears bottom side down in the batter so they are nearly enveloped. Bake for 1 hour, then allow to sit for 20 minutes on a cooling rack before removing from pan!

More ginger desserts from Broma Bakery:

Gingerbread Linzer Cookies with Dulce de Leche Centers

Gingerbread Millionaire Bars

Grain-Free Molasses Ginger Cake

Whole Wheat Ginger Blueberry Crumble Bars

Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake