This upside down pear cake is charming, delicious and super easy to make! There is something rustic and beautiful about this cake. It can be eaten like a breakfast or brunch cake or dressed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for an elegant dessert. It manages to find a place in both casual and sophisticated settings.
The bottom of this cake is lined with sliced pears and then a spiced glaze mix is added to the pears before a yummy spice cake batter is poured on top. When it’s done baking you get the joy of flipping the cake onto a serving tray and seeing the gorgeous caramelized pears that line the bottom of the fluffy cake.
My kids love this cake, as does my husband, who usually isn’t a fan of full fruit chunks baked in cakes but the pears in this cake seem to melt effortlessly into the cake and he loved it.
I used bosc pears in this recipe but most pears, with the exception of Asian pears, will work great! Asian pears may work in this but I would need to try that first before I could guarantee that the water content in those type of pears would bake up ok, I have a feeling it wouldn’t taste as good. So, I would recommend sticking to Anjou, Bartlett’s, Bosc’s, etc. type of pears.
What you need to make this Upside Down Pear Cake: (Printable recipe card is below)
makes 1 – 9 inch cake round, serves ~6
- 4 pears – peeled, cored and sliced
Pear Glaze:
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon salted butter – melted
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For The Cake Batter:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt – (this cake has a sweet and salty vibe going on so if you don’t love that reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup salted butter – melted
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Line a 9 inch round cake tin with parchment paper on the bottom and then grease the pan.
- Peel, core and slice the pears and place the slices onto the bottom of the cake pan.
- Mix together the glaze mixture and pour over the pears.
- In another bowl, add together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and stir together.
- Add the vanilla, melted butter, milk and egg to the flour mixture and mix together until a smooth batter forms.
- Dump the cake batter over the pears and then bake for 40-43 minutes or until the center of the cake is risen and bounces back slightly when pressed on with your finger.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool until warm, run a knife along side the edge of the cake pan so it isn’t sticking to the pan anywhere.
- Prepare a cake serving dish and place it serving side down on top of the cake pan then flip the pan over so the parchment paper lined side of the cake is now facing upwards.
- Remove the parchment paper and enjoy.
Here are a few recipe you may also enjoy:
Spiced Pear Muffin Recipe
Pear and Cardamom Pie
Healthy Almond Pear Crisp
Pear Berry Citrus Smoothie
Upside Down Pear Cake
Ingredients
- 4 pears Peeled, cored and sliced
Pear Glaze:
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon salted butter – melted
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For Cake Batter:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt this cake has a sweet and salty vibe going on so if you don’t love that reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup salted butter – melted
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Line a 9 inch round cake tin with parchment paper on the bottom and then grease the pan.
- Peel, core and slice the pears and place the slices onto the bottom of the cake pan.
- Mix together the glaze mixture and pour over the pears.
- In another bowl, add together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and stir together.
- Add the vanilla, melted butter, milk and egg to the flour mixture and mix together until a smooth batter forms.
- Dump the cake batter over the pears and then bake for 40-43 minutes or until the center of the cake is risen and bounces back slightly when pressed on with your finger.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool until warm, run a knife along side the edge of the cake pan so it isn’t sticking to the pan anywhere.
- Prepare a cake serving dish and place it serving side down on top of the cake pan then flip the pan over so the parchment paper lined side of the cake is now facing upwards.
- Remove the parchment paper and enjoy.