Pear, Walnut, Chocolate Bundt Cake

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On this chilly and rainy late summer day, it was the perfect time to cozy up at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and a slice of Pear, Walnut, Chocolate Bundt Cake.

I love living in the Salzkammergut region of Austria in the summer. The days are long, the mountains are green, and the aquamarine lakes tempt you to swim. When the sun shines and the weather is warm, it’s glorious here.

However, there’s an urgency to make the most of every single sunny day. That means mowing the lawn, hanging laundry on the line, and, most importantly, playing outdoors—whether hiking, swimming, biking, rock climbing, or even lounging with a gripping summer read. Good days belong outside because summer days in Austria are unpredictable.

If you don’t know what to talk to an Austrian about, talk about the weather.

Weather is a constant topic of conversation here. Everyone talks about it. Will it be warm? Will the sun come out? Is hail expected? Will we have a week of Schnürlregen? The last time I was this attentive to the weather was during the winters of my childhood in Virginia when they predicted snow. We would eagerly jump out of bed, glue ourselves to the black-and-white TV in the kitchen, and wait for the ticker to announce school closures for the entire Washington, DC Metro area, a region with four perfect seasons. When I moved to South Carolina, the sun was a given, and the thick humidity compelled you to slow down.

Today, after three weeks of exhaustively making the most of each day, the rain was a welcome visitor. And it was the best kind of rain—Schnürlregen—mesmerizing and unrelenting thin drops of rain that create a curtain of water unique to this region. They are like enchanting icicles melting from the sky in the middle of summer.

I am grateful for these days and treat them as a time to breathe, slow down, and recover. There is nowhere else to be and nothing else to do but stay home and eat cake.

Austria’s rainfall offers an ideal climate for produce like apples, pears, and walnuts. What I haven’t figured out yet is what to do with so many pears. My in-laws are also fortunate to have fruitful walnut trees (as well as plenty of apple and plum trees). We’re still working through last year’s walnut harvest, and I had a good cracking session about a week ago. The walnuts will come again in October, and it will likely take another year to get through those. The recipes you’ll find here are most often seasonal and local, based on where in the world I am at the time.

On this day, I accepted the challenge to process at least 30 pears. I pulled out the juicer and the dehydrator and searched for creative ways to utilize large amounts of pears and walnuts. Thank you, BeyondtheButter.com for the inspiration with your apple walnut bundt cake. I love desserts that feature fruit like my campfire cake.

I got to work cutting and coring pears while watching the raindrops fall on our valley through the kitchen window. To say this Pear, Walnut, and Chocolate Bundt Cake is a labor of love—well, my darling, yes, it is. And it’s one that will be made again and again in the years to come living here in Bad Goisern.

This moist and flavorful Pear, Walnut, and Chocolate Bundt Cake creates a rich, comforting flavor profile that feels indulgent yet wholesome. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon are warm, aromatic spices that cheer up the kitchen and complement the gray skies. This cake is well-balanced and pairs well with tea, coffee, powdered sugar, ice cream, whipped cream, or even salted butter, as it resembles the consistency of banana bread. Feel free to bake this in any type of cake pan—it will taste delicious in any form.