Italian Pear & Olive Oil Cake
This small Italian-style pear cake is soft, fragrant and only gently sweet. Ripe pear slices soften as they bake over a citrus-scented batter, giving you a tender cake with juicy fruit on top.
Greek yogurt keeps the crumb moist and adds a light tang that balances the sweetness of the pear. Extra virgin olive oil is central to the texture: it gives the cake richness while keeping the crumb soft and supple, and its fruity character sits naturally beside the pear, lemon and orange.
Whipping the egg with the sugar builds air into the batter, while folding in the flour gently helps preserve that light texture. Use a ripe but still firm pear so the fruit keeps some structure and does not release too much liquid during baking.
This is a dessert rather than a complete meal. Serve it on its own, or with a spoonful of plain yogurt alongside.
Ingredients (Serves 2)
- 70 g all-purpose flour
- 3 g baking powder
- 1 small pinch fine salt
- 1 large egg
- 50 g granulated sugar
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- Finely grated zest of 1/2 orange
- 40 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a little for greasing
- 45 g whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 2.5 ml vanilla extract
- 1 medium pear, about 180 g, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 5 g powdered sugar, optional, for finishing
Method
Prepare the oven and pan.
Heat the oven to 175°C. Lightly grease a 12 cm round cake pan with extra virgin olive oil and line the base with baking paper.
Mix the dry ingredients.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
Whip the egg.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg, sugar, lemon zest and orange zest for about 3 minutes, until pale, thick and noticeably increased in volume.
Add the olive oil.
Continue whisking while pouring in the extra virgin olive oil slowly. Adding it gradually helps it blend evenly into the aerated egg mixture without knocking out too much air.
Add the yogurt.
Gently mix in the Greek yogurt and vanilla.
Fold in the flour.
Add the dry ingredients and fold gently until no visible flour remains. Avoid overmixing.
Add the pear.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Arrange the pear slices over the top in a single overlapping layer.
Bake.
Bake for about 30–35 minutes, or until the center is set and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. If the pear is especially juicy, the cake may need a few additional minutes.
Cool and serve.
Leave the cake in the pan for about 20 minutes, then remove it and allow it to cool further. Dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving if you like.
Nutrition
Per serving:
- Calories: 503.6 kcal
- Protein: 9.1 g
- Fat: 22.1 g
- Fiber: 3.7 g
Approximate nutritional values.