Chai-Spiced Pecan Cake Recipe
Chai-Spiced Pecan Cake with roasted pears - a subtly sweet, chai-spiced flourless cake using pecans as the base. Perfect for fall gatherings, holiday dinners, brunch or afternoon tea.
How to Make the Best Chai-Spiced Pecan Cake
This chai-spiced pecan cake is a showstopper dessert that’s surprisingly easy to make. Using finely ground pecans instead of flour, this flourless cake delivers an incredibly moist and tender crumb with rich, nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with warm chai spices like cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon.
The secret to this cake’s light texture lies in properly folding whipped egg whites into the dense pecan batter. Take your time with this step—gentle folding preserves all those air bubbles that make the cake rise beautifully without any leavening agents. The result is a cake that’s substantial enough to satisfy but never heavy.
Top each slice with roasted pears caramelized with a touch of butter and chai spice for the ultimate fall dessert experience. Whether you’re hosting a holiday dinner or looking for an impressive brunch centerpiece, this naturally gluten-free cake is sure to become a new favorite.
Chai-Spiced Pecan Cake
Chai-Spiced Pecan Cake with roasted pears - a subtly sweet, chai-spiced flourless cake using pecans as the base. Perfect for fall gatherings, holiday dinners, brunch or afternoon tea.
Ingredients
Chai Spice Mix
Cake
Roasted Pears
Instructions
Prepare the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper on the bottom. Oil the paper and sides of the pan.
- Make the chai spice mix by combining cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, clove and black pepper in a bowl. Set aside 1 teaspoon of mix to use on pears later.
- Pulse raw pecans, chai spice mix and salt in a food processor until nuts are fine, being cautious to not turn them into butter. They should be the texture of coarse sand.
- In a shallow bowl beat the separated egg yolks with the sugar and molasses until the mixture becomes emulsified and lighter in color.
- Add the pecans and mix to combine. The mixture will be quite thick.
- Whip the egg whites to soft peaks.
- Place 1/3 of the whipped egg whites in the center of the pecan mixture. Using a rubber spatula or large metal spoon, slice down the middle through the egg whites gently folding the whites and pecan meal towards the center. Give the bowl about 1/8 of a turn toward you and repeat the process. Once you make it around the entire bowl, scrape down the sides and gently fold that in. Add the remaining egg whites in two batches, repeating the folding process.
- Pour into the parchment-lined springform pan.
- Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes, or until cake is firm to the touch in the center.
Roasted Pears
- Increase oven temperature to 450°F.
- Slice pears and toss with butter, sugar, and reserved chai spice.
- Roast until tender and caramelized. Serve alongside or on top of the cake.
Notes
- You can substitute almond meal or ground hazelnuts for the pecans.
- For the molasses, you can substitute brown sugar for the white sugar and omit the molasses entirely.
- This cake is naturally gluten-free.
