Upside Down Pear Cake

Spring has well and truly deserted us poor Sydney folk and it seems like forever that we’ve been living under rain, storms and general doom and gloom. In fact I’ve forgotten completely that it’s the first day of summer tomorrow.

So I guess it wasn’t entirely nutty of me to rehash this classic autumn cake on the last day of spring! In any event what good timing for all the good folk on the other side of the equator on their way to the chilly months!

What don’t I love about this cake?! Other than my soft spot for cooked fruits, I love how the pears marries well with the ginger spiced cake (that is dense yet soft) with the toffee syrup adding some much needed richness.

Joan Campbell’s Upside Down Pear Cake

Ingredients

4 pears – peeled, cored and quartered (or in eighths if the pears are large)
125g butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar

Cake

125g butter, softened
1 C caster sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ C self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 C milk

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease a 24 – 26cm springform tin (be careful because the toffee syrup might leak through – or maybe it’s my low-grade cake pan?!).

Warm the butter and sugar in a pan over low heat and stir until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat to medium and stir through the pears and cook for 3-4 minutes, turning the pears occasionally, or until they’re tender.Pour toffee syrup into the cake tin and arrange the pears in the tin (core side up).

This apple corer was a godsend for a lazy girl like me!

To make the cake, cream butter and sugar together and add the eggs. Sift in the flour and add all remaining ingredients and beat with electric mixer until all combined (the batter will be quite thick). Spoon batter over the pears and spread the batter over the entire surface (because of the thickness of the batter you might not get most of it entirely to the sides of the pan).Bake on the centre shelf in the oven for about 50 minutes to an hour (check after 45 minutes). Insert a skewer in the centre to test if it’s ready.

Let the cake cool in tin and when it’s cool enough to touch, tip the tin upside down on a platter and remove.

If the cake has cooled down too much, the toffee might be a bit stiff. Just stick it back in the oven to warm up the cake and re-melt the toffee.

Serve the cake warm with a dollop of cream if you wish.