Pear Upside-Down Cake

By VegasBartender

A cross between two traditional desserts, tarte Tatin and upside-down cake, this is the ultimate comfort dessert. The pears are lightly poached to avoid excess liquid in the caramel. If desired, good quality canned pear halves also can be used.

Ingredients

• PEARS
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 3 3 cups water
• 3 3 3 firm but ripe medium pears
• CARAMEL
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 cup sugar
• CAKE
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 2 2 eggs
• 3 3 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 1/3 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 1/3 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/4 1 1/4 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 teaspoon salt

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from cookingclub.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. In large saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups sugar and 3 cups water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, peel, halve and core pears. (Use melon baller to remove core.) Add to sugar syrup. Reduce heat to low; simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until just tender when pierced with small knife, turning once.

2. Gently remove pears from syrup; place on paper towels to drain. Pat dry. Discard syrup.

3. In 9-inch round ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron)* or cake pan, combine 1/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring just until butter melts. Mixture will go through several stages before reaching caramel stage. At first, it will look crystallized; then, as it smoothes out, it will look separated. Continue to cook until caramel reaches rich golden brown color, swirling pan if necessary to combine caramel mixture. Remove from heat. Place pear halves, core side up, in circle over caramel.

4. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar at medium speed 5 to 6 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. In medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Gently stir into butter mixture. Spread batter over pears and caramel.

5. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Carefully turn cake upside down onto large round platter. Wait several minutes before removing skillet. (If some of caramel remains in skillet, add 1 tablespoon water; return skillet to medium heat. Cook and stir until caramel melts and forms sauce. Drizzle over cake.) Serve cake warm with scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

TIP *If ovenproof skillet is not available, use 9x2-inch round cake pan. Make the caramel in large saucepan and pour into cake pan.

8 servings