red wine poached pear chocolate cake

Who says fall is only for pumpkin desserts? This Red Wine Poached Pear Chocolate Cake is warm, cozy, and richly spiced. You'll fall in love with its fudgy center!

It's Friday! And it's officially fall! And I have officially completed my first rotation! This calls for all the best things in life - wine and chocolate and cake. Hello, lovah. Today, I'm sharing this insanely delicious Red Wine Poached Pear Chocolate Cake. Dense, fudgy chocolate cake is filled with bright pink pears poached in spiced red wine. If this doesn't scream "cozy fall dessert" then I don't know what does. Let's get in the kitchen!

I have to admit I feel like this cake was prettier before I baked it. Because - hello! That bright color is just my favorite thing in the world. I kind of just want to own all the things in "red wine poached pear" fuchsia to be honest. So to make these pears, you just peel some pears, halve them, scoop out the little seeds, and poach them in a mixture of sweet red wine, cinnamon, orange juice, and orange peel. If you wanted to stop there and just eat these warm with some vanilla ice cream, I wouldn't stop you.

But - then you have cake! This basically brownie, I-melted-a-huge-bar-of-chocolate-for-this, cake. So combine both elements, and that is how you get red wine poached pear chocolate cake. It's a mouthful to say, but it's also a delicious mouthful to eat ya know 😉

Okay so quick life update - Monday I start surgery rotation. Which means, Monday is the day sleep dies and this blog gets mostly ignored ? I'll keep up the twice weekly posting with some good prepping ahead but don't get too impatient if I don't answer back right away! I'll just be in the hospital taking names and saving lives, no big deal. Just kidding. More like, I'll be up at 5 AM typing up my patient reports. BUT STILL. As much as I've heard that it's rough, I am actually really excited! And then - surprise! I'm going to PARIS! I'm super excited to share all the French blog things with y'all soon. But first, I have to survive surgery.

I hope y'all will make this red wine poached pear chocolate cake sometime this fall! It's a bit involved but the flavor payoff is SO good. I promise it's worth all the work. Happy baking!

Looking for more pear desserts? Check out my Brown Butter Chocolate Pear Cake, Chocolate Pear Tarts, Chai Pear Cinnamon Rolls, and Brown Butter Pear Muffins.

red wine poached pear chocolate cake

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Recipe type: Cakes

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• *for the pears*
• 3 red pears
• 2 cups sweet red wine
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1-2 star anise
• ½ cup orange juice
• peel of 1 orange
• *for the cake*
• 14 oz 70% dark chocolate
• ½ cup {1 stick} unsalted butter
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoon flour
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup chocolate chunks

Instructions

1. First, prepare the pears. Peel and cut in half. Cut out the hard seed pod.
2. In a medium pot, combine the red wine, water, brown sugar, orange juice, cinnamon, star anise, and orange peel. Place the pears in the mixture, and bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook pears for about 20 minutes, until soft and easily pierced with a fork but still holding their shape.
4. Remove from cooking liquid and set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut into thin slices. You won't need the wine but you can save it to drink as mulled wine!
5. Now, prepare the cake. Preheat the oven to 350F, and butter and flour an 8 inch cake pan. Set aside.
6. In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, gently melt the chocolate and butter until smooth and creamy.
7. In a medium bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until a light and fluffy cream forms. Still whisking, slowly add in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth, then add in the flour.
8. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
9. Add about half of the beaten egg whites to the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Finally fold in the chocolate chunks.
10. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, then bake for about 10 minutes.
11. Remove the pan from oven, and place the sliced pears evenly around the edges of the cake.
12. Return the cake to the oven for 25-30 more minutes, until the middle no longer jiggles and the top has crackled slightly.
13. Serve warm and enjoy!

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