Tinned Pears and Chocolate Cake

Dessert Recipe

Dec 27, 2023

Tinned Pears and Chocolate Cake - quick, easy & delicious.

The chocolate layers in this cake are made with eggs, cocoa, sugar and a some vanilla extract. It’s made in the same way as the Black Forest GateauL. But it’s that bit simpler for finding the ingredients, you can usually find tinned pears, but cherries are not so certain.

I use tinned pear in natural fruit juice here, but tinned pears in syrup will work great too. Tinned pears are great. They can be used in so many different ways. Definitely a cupboard staple.

I’ve listed 2 tins of pears in the recipe below. I used one - which is plenty. But I love pears and wished there was pear in every single bite - which requires two tins.

tinned pears and chocolate cake with coffee — 38g of fat per 100ml - it’s whippable

Note: The cream that you use here needs to be whippable. I picked up some fresh cream at the supermarket, thinking it was double cream. I then checked online and discovered that for cream to be whippable, it needs to be least 30% fat. This fresh cream has 38g of fat per 100ml, meaning it's whippable. However, to be sure, just check the amount of fat in the cream before buying.

Tinned Pears and Chocolate Cake

Serves: 6

Suitable for: Gluten-free diet

Ingredients:

For the chocolate cake

6 eggs
150g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the syrup

2 tins of pears, in syrup or fruit juice
1 tsp cornflour
caster sugar, to taste
vanilla bean paste or extract, to taste
splash of brandy, optional

For the cream and topping

500ml whipping cream
1 heaped tbsp caster sugar
grated or crushed milk chocolate bar

Instructions:

Make the chocolate cake
Grease two baking tins and line the bases with baking paper. Turn the oven on to 180 C.
Separate the eggs into two separate deep bowls. Beat the egg whites into soft white peaks. Beat the caster sugar into the egg yolks until the mix has turned into an airy soft buttery yellow. Sift in half the cocoa powder and fold in well. Then fold in the half the beaten egg whites. Repeat. Next, divide the mixture between the two baking tins and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Take out of the oven and let the cakes cool in their tins.
Make the syrup
Pour the juice from the tinned pears into a small saucepan. Add a teaspoon of sugar and some vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Whisk in the cornflour and gently heat until the mixture to boiling and let it thicken. Remove from the heat and taste. Add a splash of brandy and/or some more sugar, if desired. The syrup should have a sweet and slightly fruity taste.
Assemble the cake
Whip up the cream with the sugar until thickened into a soft cloud.
Turn one of the cakes out on a plate and poke several times with a skewer or fork. Pour over half of the syrup. Slice the pears. Place half on top of the bottom layer and cover with the sweet whipped cream. Turn out the next chocolate layer onto a plate and then place on top of the bottom layer. Poke several times with a skewer or fork. Pour over the rest of the syrup. Top with half the remaining pear slices. Spread over the rest of the cream. Arrange the rest of the pear slices on top of the cream and sprinkle over the grated milk chocolate. Leave in the fridge until ready to serve.