Reviewed: Oct. 2, 2011

Prepared exactly as written except used a chocolate glaze instead of powdered sugar. Also, prepared pan with Pam and then coated with Penzey's vanilla sugar. Great cake but no pear taste at all. Will try peaches and some spice next time. Next time was today. Used yellow cake mix with 2 whole eggs, 15 oz. canned peaches and some Penzey's baking spice. Excellent. More of a peach flavor. Pan was prepared with Pam and vanilla sugar as before. Definitely a keeper recipe.

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

DEBIVEE

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Buffalo, New York, USA

Living In: Waterloo, Illinois, USA

Reviewed: Sep. 22, 2011

to die for! I added a glaze spiced with nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon.I also made the glaze with sour cream instead of milk. wow was it great.

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Sweet Tooth

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Aug. 30, 2011

Very easy recipe for a nice looking dessert. Flavor was a little bland, but nice presentation.

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Ethel

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Worthington, Ohio, USA

Living In: Columbus, Ohio, USA

Reviewed: Jun. 19, 2011

I am one of those cooks who may drive you a little crazy, I mostly tend to change a recipe. For no reason only to suit my own personal tastes. I have been baking for a long time and love to come up with new favorites. I saw this recipe and thought it sounded delightful, but I wanted my own twist. So I decide to make two different chocolate versions!! For the first cake, I used a Betty Crocker Dark chocolate cake mix, I did add 2 teaspoons of Penzeys Spices Rich Dutch Cocoa and 1 cup of chocolate chips, 15 oz pears in juice, used 3 egglands best eggs (not just the egg whites) and 1/2 cup applesauce, to make it extra moist. 2nd Cake ~ I made using a white Betty Crocker cake mix, added the 3 eggs, 1 cup of WHITE chocolate chips, 15 oz pears in juice, used 3 egglands best eggs (not just the egg whites) and again the 1/2 cup applesauce.

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4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

apple.strudel

Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, U.K.

Living In: Naperville, Illinois, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 15, 2011

i was honestly very disappointed with this recipe.. however, i substituted the cake mix for 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tbsp of baking powder. maybe it was that substitute that made this cake gummy and a little too sweet. i dont think ill keep this recipe.:(

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11 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

ella123

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: May 22, 2010

This was a really easy recipe that is much lower in fat than a traditional bundt cake. I found that the pears distributed throughout the cake made it gritty, and a texture I didn't care for, but since the recipe is so good, I don't feel it's right to mark it down for a personal preference. Also, I used a reduced sugar cake mix with perfect results. I will make this cake again using peaches, it should be fabulous. Thanks for this great recipe.

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14 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

CLS

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Feb. 28, 2010

This is my new favorite cake. I'm crazy about pears and I love the lightness of this cake and the fact thats its not as fatty and full of calories as many cakes. I agree with the comparison to angel food cake but its lighter and more subtle than angel food in my opinion. What I really like to do when I make this cake is peal and slice a ripe fresh Bartlett pear and lay the slices on the bottom of the bundt pan. Ive made this cake in bundt and just a regular 9 x 13 and both ways have their virtues but I prefer the bundt method. Everyone who I have fed this too raves about it, even those who don't have much of a sweet tooth.

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20 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Azure

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Living In: Tucson, Arizona, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 23, 2010

I tried this with yellow cake mix and canned peaches (just happened to be what I had on hand) and it came out pretty decent. I've also made variants of that with nutmeg/cinnamon/cloves/allspice/ginger to make a peach spice cake. You just can't beat this recipe for how simple it is to make. Note for those making it the first time--at least for the company that made my boxed cake mix, they gave a different (shorter) time for how long to keep a bundt pan in the oven. Ignore what the box says. Also, the toothpick method is a bit hazy to work with on this guy, since the bits of fruit can stick to the toothpick and make it look like the cake isn't done when it really is. Go by the time the recipe states; it'll work perfectly!

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15 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

xconfuzzledonex

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Jan. 5, 2010

Made this for a light Christmas Eve dessert as directed. Pear flavor was very subtle, but cake was very moist. Wrapped leftovers and put in refrigerator - few days later the pear taste was more evident, but still subtle and cake was still very moist. If you are looking for distinct pear taste - add more pears or fold in at the very end. Still a very good cake.

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12 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

LAURAT001

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Dec. 24, 2009

Very simple, very easy, and I loved it! It was fluffy and although I couldn't taste the pear whatsoever, it was delicious and I will be making it again! I did use yellow cake mix though because that's all I had.

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12 users found this review helpful