Upside Down Pear Almond And Honey Cake Food

HONEY-GLAZED PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick), simmer honey until it begins to reduce, caramelize and darken in color, 6 to 10 minutes. Do not let honey burn; if it starts to smell burned, turn off heat.
• Arrange pears, close together and cut-side up, in a circular pattern in skillet, stem ends pointing toward center. Simmer over medium heat, turning them from one cut side to the other, until they begin to turn golden, about 10 minutes.
• Flip pears over to cut-side down and scatter with thyme sprigs if using. Transfer skillet to oven and roast, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt; stir in 1/2 cup butter.
• When pears are soft, remove skillet from oven, discard thyme sprigs and brush edges of pears with remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter. Pour batter on roasted pears and scatter almonds over batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 30 minutes in pan. Run an offset spatula along edges of pan to loosen cake; carefully invert cake onto a serving platter. Serve warm or cooled.

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 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.

PEACH-ALMOND UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9-inch-round cake pan. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon water and cook, stirring occasionally, until smooth and deep golden brown, 8 to 11 minutes. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and tilt to coat the bottom. Arrange the peach wedges snugly in the bottom of the pan in a single layer, cutting to fit if needed.
• Combine the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt in a food processor and pulse until the almonds are finely ground.
• Beat the remaining 7 tablespoons butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour mixture; beat in each addition until just incorporated.
• Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 30 minutes. Invert onto a plate and let cool completely. Serve with ice cream.

UPSIDE-DOWN ORANGE-ALMOND CAKE (GLUTEN-FREE)

Steps:

• For the oranges: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper; butter the parchment.
• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar, honey and salt and cook until the sugar has melted and turned golden brown, swirling the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully transfer the mixture to the prepared cake pan.
• Cut the top and bottom off of each orange. Then cut the skin and pith off of each orange by slicing from top to bottom, following the curve of the fruit. Slice the oranges into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Layer the rounds on top of the caramel in the cake pan. Set aside.
• For the cake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. In another medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the almond flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat to combine. The batter will be stiff.
• In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until they form medium-stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Stir in about a third of the egg whites into the almond mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the remaining whites. Transfer the batter to the pan with the oranges and smooth the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Carefully flip the cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or room temperature.

PEAR-ALMOND UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the butter and brown sugar in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet set over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Peel, halve and core the pears. Set one of the halves aside and cut the other three lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Fan the slices out over the perimeter of the sugared skillet. Slice the remaining half crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, place it rounded-side down in the center of the pan and fan out the slices. Set the pan aside.
• To make the cake, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in nuts and then the remaining ingredients. Spoon batter over the fruit; spread it gently with a spatula.
• Bake the cake in the center of the oven until the top is golden and springs back when pressed lightly, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes. Set a cake plate upside down over the pan. Using potholders, tightly grasp both the plate and the pan and invert. Ease the pan off the cake and replace any fruit that sticks to the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

CLASSIC PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, combine powdered sugar and 3/4 cup butter; beat at low speed until crumbly. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well at medium speed after each addition. Add vanilla; beat well. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder; mix well.
• Place 1/4 cup butter in 9-inch round cake pan. Heat in oven for about 4 minutes or until butter is melted. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pear slices over mixture in pan, slightly overlapping. Spoon and carefully spread cake batter over pears.
• Bake at 350°F. for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream.

AMARETTO PEAR UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Butter six 1-¼ cup custard cups, ramekins, or giant muffin tins.
• Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and honey; cook over low heat for about 2 minutes until mixture no longer separates.
• Divide mixture evenly between prepared dishes.
• Cut each pear into 12 wedges and place 4 wedges in the bottom of each dish; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter until light and fluffy.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
• Combine milk and Amaretto in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, then half of the liquid, beating well after each addition.
• Repeat until all ingredients are combined.
• Pour batter into the six prepared dishes, smoothing the top.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from oven and place on a rack for 10 minutes.
• Carefully flip each dish over onto serving plates to remove from dish.
• Serve immediately with lightly sweetened cream and toasted almond slices.