Well hello there, beautiful, spiced, crunchy-sugar topped buttermilk cake! Let me just say, I am so excited about this post! This recipe is simple and basic, yet results in the most perfect cake that is equally as good served as a dessert or as a breakfast coffee cake. And any recipe that fills your kitchen with delicious, spicy, fall smells like this one needs to go on your list of new recipes to try before autumn is over.
One thing that makes this cake extra delicious is the buttermilk; using buttermilk adds a unique, more complex flavor than just using regular milk. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, don’t worry! Did you know you can make your own buttermilk? Just take a scant cup of milk, add 1 TB of either white vinegar or lemon juice, let it hang out for 10 minutes, and ta-da… you have buttermilk!
This post was inspired by a tried and true recipe from the blog, The Merry Thought. I absolutely adore this blog and their simple, yet stunning recipes and DIY’s. My Pear + Cardamom Buttermilk Cake recipe was adapted from their recipe for Rhubarb Cake with Vanilla Sauce which happens to be one of my very favorite rhubarb recipes.
- CAKE
- 2 TB melted butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- ½ pear, cored and thinly sliced
- TOPPING
- 2 TB melted butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, and egg. Once combined, add remaining cake ingredients (reserving pears) and stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Arrange pears in an even layer over the top of the cake and push gently into batter.
- Combine all topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over cake.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden. Use a toothpick to ensure doneness in the middle!
Hi there! This cake looks amazing! Question about the recipe: how much flour? Thanks!
Thanks, Karen. The recipe calls for 2 cups of flour!
Thank you! Just made it — so delicious! I love the topping part!
Thanks so much for trying out my recipe! The topping is my favorite part!
Yum, this looks amazing! I just bought pears at Aldi this week- can’t wait to try it!
Let us know what you think, Ingrid!
This recipe is the most delicious coffee cake I have made yet. I wasn’t sure about the pear but it really made the flavor of the cardamom pop. Thanks much for sharing!
Thanks so much!
This looks delicious and the pictures are amazing!
Thank you so much, Nicole! The products on your site are beautiful!
I needed a quick and show-stopping desert for a “sprung on me” next-day potluck and came across your recipe. I had all the ingredients and it came together beautifully. It rose very nicely and looked just like the photo, even though I ended up using two whole pears, peeled and thinly sliced. Husband took it to work today and I’m sure it will be a hit. Hope there’s leftovers!
I’m so glad you found this recipe! Enjoy!
Wow! We tried this recipe yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE!
Thank goodness we made 3 of these cakes, ’cause we couldn’t keep our hands off of them.
The cardamom perfectly paired with the pears. We’ll be using this flavor pairing in the future… its perfect.
Thank You!
– Team Space Vixen
Thanks so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!