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Fall is in the air, and with it comes my favorite fruit of the year, Harry & David Royal Riviera Pears. They're delicious as a simple grab-and-go snack, but I like to add them to my favorite baking recipes for an extra dose of flavor.
This spiced slow cooker pear cake is a beautiful dessert and easy to make. It's also a great way to free up much-needed oven space when entertaining, as the whole cake bakes right in your slow cooker. It takes about 10 minutes to assemble before you can turn your attention to other dishes or hosting duties.
Simply line your slow cooker with foil (so you can easily remove the pear cake later) and then layer brown sugar, butter, and pears on the bottom. Pour the batter on top, turn on your slow cooker, and cover with the lid. Easy as cake!
SERVINGS
- Slow Cooker
- 1 cup light brown sugar (divided)
- 8 tablespoons butter (divided)
- 3 Harry & David® Royal Riviera® Pears (peeled, cored, and cut in half)
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 12 teaspoon ground ginger
- 12 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 12 teaspoon kosher salt
- 34 cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
- Line the bottom of a 6.5-quart slow cooker with heavy duty aluminum foil.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup brown sugar over the foil. Cut 4 tablespoons butter into cubes and sprinkle over the sugar. Arrange the pears in a single layer on top.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
- Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, egg, and melted butter. Stir the milk mixture into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
- Pour the batter over the pears. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 1/2-3 hours. When you lightly press the cake in the center with your finger and it springs back, it's done.
- When the cake is done, remove the lid from the slow cooker. Carefully remove the cake by gently pulling out the foil overhang and transferring the cake to a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes, then place a platter on top of the cake and flip over. Peel the foil off the cake slowly.
- Serve the cake warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or at room temperature.
