Perfect Pear Upside Down Cake Food

PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together over low heat, stirring occasionally until dissolved. (Alternatively use your microwave at half power or less in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until melted. If you go longer or at a higher power setting, you may have a buttery mess on your hands. Consider yourself warned!)
• Pour caramel mixture into 9-inch round cake pan.
• Top with sliced pears, working from the inside to the outside, creating a spiraled pattern.
• In a medium mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla until just blended.
• Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until just incorporated.
• Pour cake batter into pan over caramel and pears.
• Place cake in middle rack in oven. On a lower rack, place a large cookie sheet directly underneath the cake pan to catch any possible drips.
• Bake approximately 50-60 minutes, or until caramel has bubbled up around the sides, cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out with dry crumbs adhering to it.
• Remove from oven and let cake stand for approximately 10 minutes on a wire rack. (This is an important step: if you turn cake out too soon, some of the topping of your cake might fall apart; alternatively, if you turn cake out too late, you may not be able to get the cake out because the caramel will have cooled too much and stuck to the pan.)
• Flip cake out onto a serving dish and serve warm or cold.

PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Make the topping: Melt butter in the bottom of a 10 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet over low heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until dissolved. Swirl to coat the bottom; remove from heat, and cool. Cut pears into 1/4-inch-thick wedges, and arrange them in a circular pattern over the brown-sugar mixture to cover completely; set aside.
• Make the batter: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating to combine.
• Alternating with the milk, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and mix, on low speed, just until the flour is incorporated.
• In a large bowl, beat reserved egg whites and the cream of tartar with a hand mixer until stiff but not dry. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into the batter. Transfer to skillet. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly, being careful not to disturb the pears.
• Bake until well browned on top and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Run a knife around inside of pan, and immediately invert the cake onto a serving dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PEAR-PECAN UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Butter the inside of a 5-quart round slow cooker, then line it completely with a large sheet of foil and butter the foil. Turn the cooker on low. Sprinkle the cut-up butter and the brown sugar over the foil in the cooker. Add the pears, arranging them in a circle, cut-side down.
• Mix the flour, pecans, cornmeal, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl. In the large bowl of a mixer, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on low speed until just blended. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
• With the mixer on low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix on medium speed just until the batter is smooth. Spread over the pears in the slow cooker. Drape paper towels over the top of the slow cooker (not touching the cake) to prevent condensation from dripping onto the cake. Cover and cook on low until the cake sets and the sides brown, about 3 hours. Turn off the cooker and let the cake rest about 20 minutes.
• Lift the cake by the foil and place on a rack to cool. Carefully invert onto a platter and peel off the foil. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350ºF.
• Cut pears lengthwise in half; remove cores, then cut pears lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange on bottom of 13x9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray. Combine sugar and spice; sprinkle over pears. Top with cranberries.
• Beat next 5 ingredients with mixer until blended; pour over ingredients in pan.
• Bake 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool 10 min. Run knife around edges of pan to loosen cake. Place large platter over cake; invert cake onto platter. Gently remove pan. Cool cake slightly. Serve topped with COOL WHIP.

PERFECT PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter with 1/4 cup sugar in a 12-inch cast-iron or large skillet over medium. Arrange pears in a circular fashion, around the edge of the pan. Cook, without turning pears, until pears are golden underneath, 18 to 20 minutes (rotating pan as necessary for even browning).
• In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; whisk to combine. In a medium bowl, combine remaining sugar, eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, and vanilla; whisk to combine. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and whisk until just combined.
• Pour batter over pears; spread to cover. Transfer to the oven; bake until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edge and turn out onto a serving platter.

PEAR UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast, shaking the pan occasionally, until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees F.
• Stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and corn syrup and evenly coat the bottom and sides of a 10 inch glass pie plate with the mixture. When the almonds are cool, arrange around the bottom rim of the pie plate, with a few in the center, pressing them into the brown sugar mixture. Arrange the pear halves like spokes of a wheel on top of the brown sugar mixture.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and thoroughly mix.
• In another bowl, whisk together the softened butter, sour cream, egg yolks and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with an electric mixer at medium speed about 1 1/2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally, until thick and smooth.
• Using a spatula, spread the batter evenly over the fruit, building up the outside edges so the cake will be level when baked. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack and cool 3 to 5 minutes (no longer) and then invert onto a serving plate, repositioning the fruit as necessary.

UPSIDE-DOWN PEAR CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Grease bottom and sides of 9-inch (3" high) round cake pan.
• Sprinkle with brown or maple sugar.
• Cream 5 tablespoons butter (or margarine) with brown and white sugar.
• Add maple syrup and salt.
• Spread topping mixture into prepared pan.
• Press pear slices into sugar mixture, arranging them in a spoke design.
• Set aside while preparing cake batter.
• Sift together dry ingredients (flour-cinnamon). Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream 6 tablespoons and 1 cup brown or maple sugar together until light.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.
• Add sour cream, beating until smooth.
• Mix in maple syrup.
• Fold in flour mixture and then walnuts, if using.
• Pour batter into prepared pan (over pears).
• Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool 10 minutes.
• Run knife around cake and invert cake onto platter, leave pan on cake an additional 5 minutes before removing pan very carefully.
• Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream topping (recipe follows).
• To make whipped cream topping: Beat cream until soft peaks form.
• Add sugar and bourbon, if using.
• Continue beating until soft peaks form again.