UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR GINGERBREAD

By jarren

Ingredients

• Topping:
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp liquid honey or golden syrup
• 2 ripe but firm pears (or tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• Gingerbread:
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice (optional)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup dark cooking molasses
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 pint whipping cream

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F and butter an 8" or 9" round cake pan or deep-dish pie plate.

Topping:

In a small saucepan, melt brown sugar, butter and honey over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Pour over the bottom of the pan and arrange pears on top, placing them tight together (they shrink a bit as they cook, so you can even get away with overlapping them).

Gingerbread:

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat brown sugar and butter until well blended. Beat in ginger, egg, molasses and vanilla until thoroughly combined (it will look slightly curdled, that's OK). Add half the flour mixture and stir by hand or on low speed just until combined. Stir in buttermilk, then the remaining flour mixture in the same manner. Pour over pears.

Bake for 35 or 40 minutes or until top is springy to the touch. Let cool for 5 minutes and then run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a plate while it is still warm (if it cools too much and sticks to the pan, warm it in the oven again before you try to invert it). Don't worry if any pear slices stick to the bottom of the pan; simply peel them out and place them back on top of the cake where they belong.

Serve with whipped cream.