Delicious, sweet and silky Pear Almond Cheesecake Torte, prepared with a cream cheese mixture atop an almond-flour crust, and garnished with fresh pears.
Friends. This. This cheesecake is beyond! That’s it. It’s my new favorite cheesecake. I love me the classic New York Cheesecake, but this? This was phenomenal! SO good!
In other news, the other day, or month, I had a $45 Amazon credit so I went shopping. Of course. And in the end I ended up with a bill of $275.38.
Right… as if you’ve never done that. Aha.
But, seriously. What did I even buy??
For starters, I now have a 10-pound bag of almond flour to use up, thus I just keep making you all these almond-flour goodies. Like that Flourless Carrot Cake from last week. That cake is damn-good…make it! Or the Chocolate Raspberry Macarons from the week before! EEEP!
I think all this almond flour mess means less carbs?! Gluten free-ish?! I’m clueless. You definitely know more than me.
This picture? It says it all. Smooth, silky, sweet, and just a tad bit crunchy.
You see, as I was trying to think of different ways to use some of this almond meal, I thought, let me first dump it in my mixer’s bowl and then I’ll figure it out. All was good. All was healthy. Until… I threw in a stick of butter. And lots o’ sugar. I poured in some rum extract, too, for good measure. BUT, as you can see, I tried to come back by adding some fresh fruit on top. Balance – it’s where it’s at.
If you are one of those people that could care less for sweet, sugary, come-to-mama-you-sweet-thaaaaang desserts, then this is probably not for you. Make a Taco Casserole, instead.
However, if you are into really sweet desserts, make this now! It takes about 8 minutes to prep it – the rest is done in the oven. I have made this cheesecake torte a gazillion times, but with all-purpose flour, and I have yet to say that I’ve had enough of it. Now, after the addition of almond flour, it is even better! Besides, my mom already put in her order for Mother’s Day – she said not to show up without this cake in my hands. Um…okay!
ENJOY!
Pear Almond Cheesecake Torte
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 package (8-ounces) cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 2 Anjou Pears , thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray; set aside.
- In your mixer's bowl combine butter and sugar; beat until creamy.
- Add rum extract and almond flour; continue to mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.
- Press mixture onto the bottom of prepared pan; set aside.
- In your mixer's bowl combine cream cheese and sugar; beat until well blended.
- Add vanilla and egg; continue to mix until thoroughly incorporated and smooth.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture on top of prepared crust.
- Arrange pears in a fan-like fashion.
- In a bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over pears.
- Top with almonds.
- Bake for 10 minutes; reduce temperature to 375 and continue to bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until center is set.
- Cool completely.
- Remove rim and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Cut and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Everybody loved it! But similar to someone else’s previous comment, I agreed that the almond flour paste was very mushy when pushing it into the pan, and it ended up leaking out of the pan when cooking in the oven. I wonder if the butter/almond flour ratio is off?
I love this recipe! I’m a reluctant GF baker, doing so occasionally for meals with extended family. This crust had a floury feel to it (not the grainy texture you typically get with GF flours), with a nice crispness on the edges. The cheese layer was smooth and silky. And the pears… well I love pears. 🙂 I would absolutely make this again.
I might try to play with the recipe. I can see lots of opportunities for changing up the extracts, fruit, and maybe even the cheese? Like a cream cheese/ricotta middle layer with lemon extract, and apple topping? Cherries and mascarpone in the summer?
I am very happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for chiming in! 🙂
This has been my go to for every pot luck and holiday I’ve baked for in the last two years. Seriously! This recipe is dangerously good. I even took it to a ‘Lord of the Rings’ themed harvest feast last year, it fit right in.
In fact this Torte is the whole reason I finally got a spring form pan! Yes, I’d been making it in pie plates.
I’ve tried a few different variations since I started baking this. I’ve used almond extract in place of the rum a few times, and it was still scrumptious! The biggest risk I’ve taken in experimenting with the recipe was trading the pears for peaches. It was still lovely, but my preference is still Pears.
Thank you SO much for sharing your heavenly torte. I’m addicted.
I have made this twice following this recipe. Although delicious, I suspect there is something incorrect about the amount of butter in the crust. It is too sticky to “press” into the pan and does not go up the sides. WHen baking, an enormous amount of grease leaks out. Every other version of this same recipe online uses half the amount of butter given here. Maybe more is added due to the use of the almond flour? It is quite delicious and my guests devoured it, but I think if i make it again I will try with less butter and maybe a combo of almond flour and something else keeping it gluten free. I also found the rum flavoring a bit overpowering so used half rum half vanilla for my second one.
Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Wow, what a gorgeous and delicious looking dessert and luv that it uses almond flour! It’s a must make!!
This would be breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert at my house.
Completely stunning tart!
It’s beautiful, I’ll take a nice big slice!
This looks divine!
Wow, that is seriously impressive!
Looks great Kate!
Good job!
Did you just put together pears, almond flour and cheesecake??? Hello, my new favorite person ever! What a wonderful combo, this cheesecake looks delicious. Aaahhh, I need it in my life right now.
And your shots are gorgeous as well, I’m in awe :–)
Thanks SO much!! This cheesecake is plain amazing. Everyone should try it. My mom, she is about 100 lbs., she eats half of it every time I make it. I’m not allowed to make it and not call her over. 🙂
Pear and almond is an excellent combo, but a cheesecake torte?? I have to add this to my to do list. Gladly!
I am so in love with pears! This torte looks ah-mazing Kate! Gorgeous!
This is seriously the best looking cheesecake ever. I just ate dinner and dessert but now I want a slice or five of this!
I love everything about this! It looks like it would be amazing to eat!
So, so gorgeous. Love these flavors!
Such a pretty dessert, and great flavors to boot.
You made a grown woman drool! Want. want. want some cheescake!!!
OMG! The cheesecake looks gorgeous and so luscious. Great post.
A gorgeous cheesecake, Kate. I love the pairing with pears.
This cheesecake torte looks absolutely incredible!!
Kate,
I am famous for buying a giant container of ____ and then having to figure out how to use it all up.
You will notice a number of recipes involving dried cherries on my blog. Just sayin’ . . .
This looks yummy–and I bet the flavor is tremendous.
The cheesecake seems to have a nice balance of crust, filling and fruit. I bet it tastes delicious.