Pear cake with grape must
Autumn in a tin: pears, grape must and Gingerbread spice
Hello gourmets! Autumn brings two things at once: pears and grape must. This cake with grape must combines both, with Gingerbread spice added on top — and suddenly a simple batter tastes of the whole season.
Two things decide the result. The first is the pear: it's coarsely grated, not finely. A rösti grater is exactly right for this; with a fine Grater you get purée, and purée disappears into the batter instead of making it moist. The second is the amount: with ripe, soft pears you take only 250 g, otherwise the cake gets too wet inside.
And then there's the sugar that you sprinkle over the batter through a Sieve at the end. It seems like a trifle when filling the tin, but in the oven it turns into a crunchy, caramelised layer — the best part of the cake.
Ingredients
For one cake of 23 cm
Step by step
Preparing the pears
Preheat the oven, peel the pears
Preheat the oven to 175 °C fan. Peel 250 to 300 g of pears and cut them into quarters. Go for firmer pears — ripe, soft ones release too much juice.
Grate coarsely, not finely
Grate the pears coarsely — a rösti grater is ideal for this. A fine grater turns them into purée, and that makes the batter wet instead of moist. In total you need 250 to 300 g of grated pears. If your pears are ripe and soft, stick with 250 g, otherwise the cake gets too moist inside.
Batter
Sugar, butter, gingerbread spice
Put 100 g of cane sugar, 175 g of butter and 1 tsp of Gingerbread spice into a large Bowl. For the spices a Measuring spoon really pays off — with a blend this bold, half a teaspoon more makes an audible difference.
Gingerbread spice, 60 g
Baking powder 80g
Measuring spoon set, 4 pieces (1.25 - 15 ml)
Whisk 29cm
Add the baking powder and beat
Add the Baking powder and beat everything with the Whisk for 1 to 2 minutes on medium speed until the butter is smooth and creamy. These two minutes are no detail: they work the air into the mixture that makes the cake light later on.
Eggs and grape must
Add the 3 eggs and 75 g of vin cuit and beat everything for a few seconds on medium speed. The mixture puffs up in the process — that's normal, the Baking powder is already at work.
The flour
Add 175 g of flour and stir again for 1 to 2 minutes with the Whisk on medium speed. This gives you a smooth, creamy texture.
Fold in the pears
Add the grated pears to the batter and fold everything in with the Dough scraper. By hand, not with the machine — this keeps the pear pieces intact.
Baking
Spray and fill the tin
Take a 23 cm cake tin — an adjustable one is handy, because you can set the length exactly. Spray it with non-stick spray and pour in the batter. The spray saves you flour and butter, and the cake comes out afterwards without any resistance.
Adjustable cake tin 20 to 30 x 10.5 cm
Rectangular cake tin 24 x 10 x 7 cm
Rectangular cake tin 20 x 10.5 x 7 cm
Rectangular cake tin 30 x 10.5 x 7 cm
Sugar through the sieve — and into the oven
Sprinkle 10 g cane sugar over the batter through a sieve. Through the sieve so it falls evenly: a little pile of sugar gives a sugar island, a fine layer gives a crust. Then slide the cake into the middle of the preheated oven and bake it at 175 °C fan for 1 to 1¼ hours.
Wait 30 minutes, then turn out
Let the baked cake cool in the tin for 30 minutes before you take it out. While warm it is fragile and breaks when released. Once it is lukewarm, turn it out onto a cake rack and let it cool completely.
Adjustable cake tin 20 to 30 x 10.5 cm
Non-stick spray, 400 ml
One-handed stainless steel flour sieve
3 stackable cake racks
Pear and Vin Cuit Cake
Ingredients
For a cake of 23 cm
Preparation
- Pears: Peel, quarter and coarsely grate — 250 to 300 g.
- Butter: Put cane sugar, butter and gingerbread spice into a bowl.
- Beat: Add baking powder, beat 1–2 min. on medium speed until creamy.
- Eggs: Add eggs and vin cuit, beat for a few seconds.
- Flour: Add flour, stir again for 1–2 min.
- Pears: Fold in the grated pears with the dough scraper.
- Tin: Spray the tin, fill it, sift 10 g of cane sugar over the top.
- Bake: 175 °C fan, 1 to 1¼ hrs.
- Cool: 30 min. in the tin, then let cool completely on the cake rack.
Nutritional values per 100 g
Storage & shelf life
Everything for this recipe
Recommended from our bakery — exactly the sizes the recipe was tested with.
Ingredients
Gingerbread spice, 60 g
Baking powder 80g
Swiss white flour, 1 kg
Non-stick spray, 400 ml
Accessories
Steel grater
Measuring spoon set, 4 pieces (1.25 - 15 ml)
Whisk 29cm
Light-blue small silicone dough scraper
Adjustable cake tin 20 to 30 x 10.5 cm
One-handed stainless steel flour sieve
3 stackable cooling racks
Delivery in 1–2 working days · Free shipping from CHF 100
Nice to have alongside
Not needed for the recipe — but it goes well with it.
Rectangular cake tin 24 x 10 x 7 cm
Rectangular cake tin 20 x 10.5 x 7 cm
Rectangular cake tin 30 x 10.5 x 7 cm
To make sure it turns out perfectly
The difference between a moist cake and a soggy one comes down to the Grater. Coarsely grated pears stay in pieces within the batter and release their moisture slowly. Finely grated ones turn to purée, and purée spreads immediately — the batter becomes heavy and rises less well. A rösti grater is exactly the right size.
The range of 250 to 300 g isn't approximate; it depends on ripeness. Firm pears contain less juice, so you can go up to 300 g. Ripe, soft pears bring so much liquid with them that the cake stays wet in the middle — in that case, stick to 250 g.
Ten grams of sugar sounds like nothing, but it's the best part of the cake: it caramelises in the oven into a crunchy crust. For that to happen evenly, it needs to be finely distributed. Scattered straight from your hand, it forms little clumps that melt and leave holes.
Frequently asked questions
Vin cuit is reduced must — traditionally made from pears or grapes, thick and dark, with a sweetness somewhere between caramel and dried fruit. For this recipe, the grape variety was used. You can replace it with pear concentrate or apple concentrate; the cake will then be a little milder.
Yes, it should just be about 23 cm long. In a shorter tin the cake will be taller and take longer, in a longer one flatter and less long. An adjustable tin has the advantage that you can set the length precisely — and use the same tin differently for other recipes.
By the skewer test in the middle, not by appearance: the sugar crust turns brown long before the cake is done. Check for the first time after an hour, then again every ten minutes.
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Comments
Question de Christine
By: Christine G. On 2023-09-25Bonjour,
Je viens de le faire et c’est vraiment excellent ?. Merci
Replied by: Karin On 2023-09-26
Question de Céline
By: Céline M. On 2020-09-16Bonjour, par quoi pourrais-je remplacer l'épice à crumble?
merci
Replied by: Karin On 2020-09-16