PEAR UPSIDE CAKE

Hi All!!!  Merry Christmas to you all!  Or should I say, Merry Belated Christmas!!  I have a great holiday dessert for you.  What I have prepared for you today is a wonderful Pear Upside Cake.  So you're probably thinking to yourself, "Hmm, I've heard of a Pineapple Upside Cake but what is this PEAR Upside Cake all about?"  Well, it might sound crazy but let me tell you that it's a beautiful thing.


Special Note:  I didn't realize this at the time but this recipe calls for (3) 9" round pans or (1) 9 x 13" pan plus (1) 9-inch round pan, which is kind of weird to me unless you're making enough cake to feed 25 people.  If you only want to make enough cake to feed your family, my suggestion would be to cut this recipe in half and use a (1) 9" x 13" or 9 1/2" tart pan.


Ingredients:

Batter
2 teaspoons lemon juice, fresh
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 allspice
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups white sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Topping – 1st in pan
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup pecans, rough chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
4 large red pears, peeled and sliced medium

Directions:
Preheat oven to 275 degree Fahrenheit.

Use (1) 9 1/2" tart pan or cupcake pan.

Melt butter. Pour in pan. Sprinkle nuts over the melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over
nuts. Lay peeled and sliced pears on top of brown sugar. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes. The batter should be very light in color.

  

Leave the mixer running and add eggs one at a time. Beat each egg until completely incorporated before adding the next egg. 

Add vanilla. Turn the mixer to a lower speed and alternately mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk.

  

Remove from mixer and pour batter over pear mixture in the pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes at 275F and 20 minutes at 250F.

Cake will be lightly brown and toothpick inserted in center will come out clean. Cool on wire racks. Remove from pan when cake is still slightly warm.