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Vegan Pear Upside Down Cake. This amazing Vegan Upside Down Cake needs just 1 Bowl and 40 mins. Use other fruits for variation. Vegan Nutfree Soyfree Recipe. Glutenfree option. Jump to Recipe

I had some pears leftover after entertaining my niece recently and whipped up this upside down cake that she could take along. For some reason hubbs isn’t fond of pears and lately they’ve started giving me headaches if eaten raw. Go figure. But everything works out for everyone in this cake! A gooey caramelized top, soft delicious cake, a dollop of whipped coconut cream.
The pears are sliced and arranged on the bottom of a pan. Maple syrup or brown sugar helps them caramelize during baking. Then a simple vanilla batter on top. Bake until done, then serve with some whipped coconut cream or vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Delish! Use the same method to make pineapple upside down cake or use peaches or apple.

More Cakes and bakes
- Cinnamon Swirl Cake
- Eggnog Pound Cake
- Easy Coffee Cake – Cinnamon Streusel Cake GF option
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Marble Cake
- Applesauce spice cake GF option
- Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Pumpkin Frosting. GF option
Gluten-free
- GF Cashew Butter Chocolate Marble Cake.
- Gluten-free Cinnamon Roll Bread yeast-free.
- GF Carrot Banana Bread – Also grain-free.
- Sweet Potato Crumb Cake. GF
Step by Step Photos:

Assemble the ingredients. Line the bake pan with parchment or grease really well. Arrange the pear slices. Drizzle maple syrup or sprinkle brown sugar all over.

Mix all the wet ingredients. Then add dry and mix to make a smooth batter. Pour over the pears, even it out and bake.


Vegan Pear Upside Down Cake

Ingredients
- 2 Pears, , thinly sliced (1/4 inch thick
- 3 tbsp maple syrup , or brown sugar for more caramelized, or half of each
Cake:
Wet:
- 3/4 cup non dairy milk, such as almond, soy
- 1/4 cup pear puree or applesauce, (I usually blend up leftover pear and use it)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or chai spice, or cinnamon + cardamom
Dry:
- 1.5 cups flour, (I use a mix of all purpose and wheat), see notes for Glutenfree
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Line a 8 or 9 inch cake pan with parchment at the bottom. Arrange pear slices as you like. Pour the maple syrup (or sprinkle the sugar) all over the pear slices. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180C)
- Blend the remaining pear in a blender with 1-2 tsp of water until it is like applesauce. Measure out 1/4 cup of the puree and use in the cake. Or use applesauce.
- Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
- Mix the baking powder, baking soda and salt into the flour. Add 1.25 cups flour to the wet and mix in. Add 1-2 tbsp more at a time to make a thick batter, not too stiff but not too flowy.
- Pour gently on top of the pear slices in the cake pan and spread to even it out.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick from the enter comes out clean.
- Cool for 15 mins, then remove cake by inverting it over a dish. Carefully peel off the parchment.
- Sprinkle a good pinch of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or other fave spice blend on the pears. Cool for another 10 mins, then slice and serve with whipped coconut cream or vegan ice cream
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.










I am very excited about eating this cake but it took me longer than I thought and my egg-free toddler cannot have a sugar rush… How do I save it overnight? Fridge? Thanks!
yes, the fridge =
This was a lovely recipe! I honestly never know what to do with pears when I get them from the market since I don’t love eating them by themselves. Your desserts are such a nice balance of sweetness. Here are my little subs for what I had on hand. Instead of using milk I just blended 1/2 cup of oats with a cup of leftover chai tea I had brewed. Then threw in half a pear and hit my measurement marks. I used kombucha vinegar instead of lemon and added almond extract for the vanilla! Woo very tasty. Really compliments the pears and makes me want to double the pear next time! I never know how to eat them but this is the way for sure. Keep up the great work and thank you for sharing your time and expertise.
thanks for the info & great review!
Yum! I was short on “milk” so I replaced 1/4 cup with chai concentrate and skipped the spices (except for the cinnamon sprinkle at the end.) A great use of my many misfit pears.
Can I use canned Asian pears( home canned)
the result will be more soggy, bc canned pears are already cooked…… so try to keep them thicker slice as you can – but it depends how much you’ve already cooked them
I am thinking to make this cake for our Plant-based Thanksgiving Feast. What kind of pears work best in this recipe?
Thankyou
Macrina
Bartlett
I made this last night with gluten-free baking four. It was amazing! It takes like spice cake with maple glazed pears The whole family raved about it.
😃 😄 excellent ! thank you
Excellent! So easy. We all loved it!
I am making this for a friend. Can I leave out the lemon juice, she cannot have citrus, vinager or cream of tart.
Yes
Very good, I used apple
Hello Richa, thank you, this recipe worked a treat, and was delicious. I think a 9inch pan would have been better than the 8inch as the cake was quite dense, but it was lovely. Julie, Australia.
If it turned out dense then I think there was a problem with the batter, it probably needed more flour. IBe made this cake several times in the 8 inch pan. Did the cake rise and then fall?