Pear Ginger Bundt Cake

This post was created as in partnership with Imperial Sugar. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

This Pear Ginger Bundt Cake is loaded with holiday flavors of Bosc pears and bits of crystallized ginger in every bite.

If you are looking for the perfect Christmas dessert, you might also like my Festive Cranberry Coconut Cake or a layered Red Velvet Cake. Or channel your inner Charles Dickens and make a traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake with Toffee Sauce.

An image of a pear ginger bundt cake with a pear glaze dripping down the sides.

I love using pears during the winter season when they are at their peak.

I feel like they often get overlooked during the holidays, especially with the more in-your-face flavors of peppermint and eggnog.

But we love pear desserts, like my Dutch Pear & Nutmeg Pie, which always steals the show, so I wanted to make a holiday cake using the wonderful flavor of pears.

An image of a slice of pear ginger bundt cake on a white plate.

So I decided to bake a bundt cake!

I find that I pull out my bundt pan during the holiday season more than any other time of the year. They are such beautiful, festive looking cakes that require minimal time or effort decorating.

And bundt cakes like this pear ginger bundt tend to be a little less sweet, which is a welcome relief sometimes after binging on peppermint bark and toffee!

It's closer to the sweetness and texture of a quick bread like banana bread rather than a light, fluffy, frosted layer cake, and it's wonderful with a scoop of ice cream or a glass of milk.

What are the best pears for baking?

I prefer baking with Bosc pears as they tend to hold up better in the oven and deliver wonderful pear flavor once the cake has cooled.

D'Anjou pears are also good for baking, and bartlett pears do okay in pie, although they are my last choice of the three since they tend to break down a lot more when they cook. I wouldn't use them for this cake.

But definitely do not use comice pears, which tend to completely turn to mush during the baking process.

I like to leave bite-size chunks of pear, otherwise the delicate flavor of the fruit tends to get lost in the cake when chopped too small.

An image looking down on a glazed bundt cake surrounded by bosc pears.

How to Make a Pear Ginger Bundt Cake

Start by preheating the oven and prepping a 10-12 cup bundt pan with Baker's Joy (affiliate link) baking spray.
Mix oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a bowl, beating well for 2 minutes. Then add the eggs and mix again.
Stir in the dry ingredients, which consist of flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and salt, just until combined. We don't want to overwork this batter or the cake won't be as light.
Gently stir in chunks of pear and chopped crystallized ginger. Crystallized ginger packs a powerful flavor punch, so make sure to chop it down pretty small so the flavor is spread throughout the cake.
Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 55-70 minutes until done. Look for the cake to barely start to pull away from the sides of the pan and for a toothpick inserted into the center or the cake to come out clean.
Let the cake sit for 15 minutes in the pan to cool slightly before inverting onto a cake plate. This will help it not to stick to the pan and fall apart.
Whisk together a simple glaze made from pear juice, pear nectar, or milk, powdered sugar, and cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. When the cake has cooled slightly, drizzle with the glaze and let set for 1 hour before slicing and serving. I recommend letting the cake cool completely before serving as the pear flavor develops more as the cake cools.

An image of spice cake butter with pears mixed in in a bundt cake pan.

The FULL RECIPE is on my partner Imperial Sugar’s site, so be sure to head over so you can make this dessert this season! Each month we collaborate to bring a great recipe to you using their wonderful products, and you can see them all over on their site!

Do you flip a bundt cake right away?

No, flipping a bundt cake out of the pan right after it comes out of the oven is a common reason for the cake to stick or fall apart.

I recommend letting it cool for at least 15 minutes in the bundt cake pan to set up a bit before inverting onto the plate you want to serve it on.

An image of an unglazed winter pear bundt cake on a white plate.

How do you know when a bundt cake is done?

One of the biggest concerns when baking a bundt cake is knowing when it is done.

Because of the unique designs of bundt pans and their capacities, it's difficult to give a more accurate estimate of how long your bundt cake will take to bake completely in the oven. But there are two good indicators to knowing the bundt cake is done and ready to be removed without overbaking.

1. Test with a skewer or knife. Like any cake, if the skewer of sharp knife comes out clean with just a few crumbs clinging to it, the cake is done. If it comes out wet with batter on it, let the cake cook a bit longer.

2. Watch for the cake to pull away from the sides of the pan. As the cake gets close to being done, you will notice that it begins to pull away from the pan ever so slightly. This is a sign that the cake is ready to be removed from the oven and will release from the pan.

An image of a holiday bundt cake on a cake plate with glaze on it.

What do you grease a bundt pan with?

My absolute favorite product for getting cakes to release cleanly from pans, even intricate bundt pans, is Baker's Joy (affiliate link) baking spray. It's different from cooking spray and it makes a big difference.

I failed at making bundt cakes for a number of years until I realized that the reason my bundt cakes always stuck to the pan was that I was prepping the pan with cooking spray rather than baking spray.

If you don't have baking spray, you can use a pastry brush and very soft butter (I don't like using melted butter because it tender to just run down the sides and gather at the bottom). Brush the pan thoroughly, getting into the crevices, with the softened butter. Then sprinkle with ¼ cup of flour and shake well to dust the pan.

You can even make a baker's paste similar to Baker's Joy by mixing equal parts shortening and flour with a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil and using that to coat the sides of the bundt pan.