Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the middle of the oven.

Rinse the pears. Cut in half lengthwise and then lengthwise again.

Use a spoon, starting at the top of each quarter and carefully remove the core, scooping deeper where the seeds are and then coming back up at the bottom.

Slice the quarters into ¼" slices and set aside. I usually end up needing 1 full pear and ¾ of another.

Roughly chop the hazelnuts for the top and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together the softened butter, sugar, salt, espresso powder, almond extract, and vanilla extract until smooth, light and fluffy. You really gotta whip it so feel free to use an electric mixer. The whole mixture should lighten in color!

Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Ensure each egg has been fully mixed in before adding the next.

Pour in the hazelnut flour and sift in the cocoa powder, beat again.

Spoon in the sour cream, and mix until just combined

Lastly, pour in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Mix once more until combined and smooth.

If not using this pan, spray the cake pan with your baking spray or grease and line with parchment paper.

Pour the chocolate cake batter into the prepared cake pan.

Tap the cake on the counter until the top is level.

Fan each quarter set of thinly sliced pears over the top of the cake, cover as much of the surface as possible.

Sprinkle the roughly chopped hazelnuts on top.

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, rotate the cake 180 degrees and bake for another 20ish minutes.

When the cake is finished baking, check it by sticking a toothpick into an exposed portion of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, or just with crumbs, the cake is fully baked.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before removing the spring form.

After 10 minutes, remove the springform.

Dust the top with powdered sugar and enjoy warm or at room temperature. Optionally serve with a lightly sweetened soft whipped cream.