Eating From the Ground Up

MENUMENU
  • About
  • Recipes
    • By Category

      • Bites
      • Breads and Crackers
      • breakfast
      • drinks
      • Home Dairy
      • Mains
      • On the Side
      • Pickles and Preservation
      • salads
      • Sauces, Dressings and Spreads
      • snacks
      • soups
      • Sweets
    • By Ingredient

      • apples
      • asparagus
      • Beans
      • Beef
      • beets
      • Berries
      • Broccoli and Broccoli Raab
      • brussels sprouts
      • cabbage
      • carrots
      • cauliflower
      • celeriac
      • Cheese
      • Chick Peas
      • Chicken
      • chocolate
      • corn
      • eggs
      • Fish
      • garlic
      • Grains
      • Herbs and Flowers
      • kale
      • leeks
      • lentils
      • pasta
      • pears
      • peppers
      • Pork
      • potatoes
      • Quince
      • radishes
      • rhubarb
      • stone fruit
      • summer squash
      • Tomatoes and Tomatillos
      • winter squash
      • yogurt
  • Not Recipes
    • Family
    • Politics and Activism
    • The Writing Process
    • travels
    • Kids in the Kitchen
    • My Berkshires
    • 1st of the Month
    • The Garden
  • Classes & Events
    • Classes

      Join me and Courtney Maum for an empowering writers' retreat this fall! Head here to apply to RISK MORE, WRITE BETTER.

    • Book-Tour Events

      No book events scheduled at this time. How about a class?

  • My Books

    • Signed copies from my local bookstore
      From Amazon
      From B&N


    • From Amazon
      From B&N
      From Powell's

    • Front cover The Homemade Pantry
      From Amazon
      From Barnes and Noble
      From Indie Bound

  • Yogurt
  • contact
  • Blog

pear gingerbread upside down cake

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by alana

A mother of a student of mine once made gingerbread with pears neatly pressed into the top. It was extraordinary. It was years ago, but in the last few weeks I’ve been obsessing on that gingerbread.

I will make that gingerbread.

Yes, I could call that mom, but that would be too easy. I’ve been pouring over pear gingerbread recipes, and I know I’m going to find it.
What am I looking for? A stickiness in the pears- more ginger than molasses, moist but not gooey.
Since it is Gourmet Today week, I thought I should start there. And obligingly, it offers us a pear gingerbread upside down cake.
I’m afraid of upside-down cakes. I’m a right-side-up cake kind of girl. I always lose part of the top, and I have to press it back in and try not to cry.
There was so much butter on the top of this cake that I thought it might be okay, but I lost a big chunk in the right-side-upping. Never fear, though. The pears are so gooey that they will press right back in without tears.

This is not the cake that I am looking for. I’m telling you about it anyway because it might be the cake you are looking for. Are you looking for more molasses than ginger? More sticky than cake-y? The satisfaction of baking a cake in a skillet? This one is for you. In fact, I’ve got a whole cake here if you’d like a piece. I’ll make you a cup of tea, and you can tell me about you’re favorite gingerbread recipe. I’m serious if you’re nearby. I have cake for you.
Oh gingerbread, I’m not done with you yet. I’ve got six more pears, and lot’s more recipes. Be ready, friends. I’m taking you along on this odyssey.

Pear Gingerbread Upside-down Cake
adapted from Gourmet Today

For the topping:
3 firm pears, preferably Bosc
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

For the cake:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup molasses
1 1/4 cup boiling water
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg. lightly beaten

Make the topping:
Peel, halve, and core pears. Cut each pear into 4 wedges.
Heat butter in a well seasoned 10 or 12 inch skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Reduce heat to low, sprinkle brown sugar over butter, and cook, undisturbed, for 3 minutes. Arrange pears decoratively over sugar and cook, undisturbed for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Make the cake:
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a bowl. Whisk together the molasses and boiling water in a bowl or large measuring cup.
Beat together butter, brown sugar and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer at a medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with molasses in 3 batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until smooth.
Pour batter over pears in skillet, spreading it evenly but trying not to disturb pears. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool cake in skillet on a rack for 5 minutes.
Run a thin knife around sides of skillet, invert a large plate with a lip over skillet, and, using pot holders to hod skillet and plate tightly together, invert cake onto plate. Replace any pears that stuck to skillet. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or creme fraiche.

Filed Under: Breads and Crackers, pears, Sweets Tagged With: baking, cake

« red-wine-and-maple- glazed carrots
how to get your kids to eat vegetables »

Comments

  1. Carolyn Wilson says

    Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 12:29 am

    Hi, for those of us outside the U.S would you be able to tell me the measurement for 1/2 a stick of butter?
    Thanks.

    • alana says

      Monday, May 28, 2012 at 2:32 am

      Hi Carolyn! You’ll need 56.5 grams (113 grams is 1 stick)


Welcome!

I’m Alana, and I write about food, family and the wonderful chaos that ensues when the two combine. If you’re new to the site, here are a few good places to start, or learn more about me on my about page.

Follow me on Instagram.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Become a Sponsor

One_Alana_Ad 2016
Load More...Follow on Instagram

My books!

Signed copies from my local bookstore/Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Front cover The Homemade Kitchen

Amazon /B&N /Powell's


Front cover The Homemade PantryAmazon
B&N
Powell's


Tense moments

failed cornbreadPan shattered in the oven? Jelly didn’t set? Trying to find a solution for a problem in the kitchen? Let’s get through the tense moments together, starting here.

Classes and workshops

Occasionally I teach workshops, and I have one coming up this fall. Join me and stellar novelist Courtney Maum for RISK MORE, WRITE BETTER, an empowering weekend in a gorgeous old B&B that will jumpstart that project you've been wanting to work on. Space is limited, so apply here!

My latest book!

Learn more about my latest book, Eating from the Ground Up. It's perfect for all you vegetable lovers out there.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

COPYRIGHT © 2019 EATING FROM THE GROUND UP.