Pear and Walnut Upside-Down Cake

Pears have a standing gig in our winter fruit bowl.  We eat them on yogurt, with cereal, in salads, and with cheese and nuts after dinner. And we love them in fruit desserts, too.  I’ve written about the magical pear tart we like to treat ourselves to, but it may have some competition with this dessert.  Pear and walnut upside-down cake is a play on the Southern pineapple version I grew up with.  It’s fairly simple to put together and has that ta-da! moment when you invert it and see the soft baked wedges of pear atop the luscious cake layer.

This recipe was inspired by one in the January 2016 issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. Their directions called for a 9-inch round, two inch deep baking pan to create a perfect (of course) -looking cake, pear slices arranged in a large floral design. The only cake pan in my cabinet that was the required depth was square in shape, so I went with it.

Cook’s Illustrated is famous for their rigorous recipe testing, but that didn’t stop me from improvising beyond the shape of the cake. I decided to reduce the amount of butter and brown sugar in the topping by about a fourth, believing that too much added sweetener would mask the flavor of the pears . After coating the parchment paper with butter and brown sugar, I created a flower of pear slices in the middle of the pan and filled in the outer edges with remaining pieces.

The batter for this cake is mixed entirely (and quickly) in the food processor, which was a fun experience for me. After chopping the walnuts with flour and leaveners in the processor bowl, I removed the nut-flour mixture and moved on to do the wet ingredients. Sugar (also reduced by 1/4) and eggs go into the bowl next, followed by melted butter and oil. Finally, the processor helps to mix together the dry and wet ingredients.

A few pear pieces may poke through when the batter is poured over them.

The cake bakes in a slow oven for over an hour, giving the raw pears a chance to become soft while their accompanying swirls of caramel cook into the cake layer.  Once the cake has rested a bit to cool off, you invert the it to see the upside-down part right side up.

After the cake had cooled its required time, I served portions with a bit of whipped cream.  Cutting through the just-cooked pear slices that are on top, we reached the cake layer, speckled with walnut pieces, a perfect partner to the fruity roof. We thought the sweetness level of the cake was just right–the pears tasting like themselves, not a treacly version.

This is a dessert that looks like something for a special occasion, but is really so homey that it would be perfect for any day.

Pear and Walnut Upside-Down Cake

Dawn Dobie

Fresh pears top a walnut-speckled base in this easy but delicious dessert

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Servings 9

Ingredients

  

Topping

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar-- 2 ounces
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 ripe but firm Bosc pears

Cake

• 1 cup walnuts toasted
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour-- 2 1/2 ounces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar-- 5 1/2 ounces
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• To toast the walnuts: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place walnuts in a single layer in a baking dish and bake for 6-7 minutes. Cool to room temperature. (Leave oven at 300 degrees.)

For the topping

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square or round cake pan (with 2 inch sides), then place parchment paper cut to fit in the bottom of it. Mix the brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt together.
• Peel and cut the pears in half. Core the pears, then slice each half into 6 wedges.
• Spread the melted butter over the bottom of the pan, then sprinkle the brown sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Arrange the pear slices in a decorative pattern atop the butter-sugar mixture. (I made a flower in the middle, then filled in the edges. You could also make repeating rows of pear slices across the pan.)

For the cake

• Place walnuts, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in bowl of food processor. Pulse 8-10 times, until walnuts are ground finely. Transfer this dry mixture to a bowl.
• Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of the processor and process for 2 minutes. The mixture will become a pale yellow. Once the 2 minutes have passed, and while the processor is still running, pour a steady stream of the melted butter and oil through the feed tube into the bowl, continuing to process until it is mixed well.
• Add the dry flour-walnut mixture from the bowl to the processor. Pulse 4-5 times to combine the wet and dry ingredients.
• Pour the walnut batter over the prepared pears in the baking pan, spreading the batter evenly by slightly tipping the pan and gently thumping the bottom. If you see some pear pieces peeking out, don’t worry. The batter will rise over them as the cake bakes.
• Bake the cake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. If you remember, rotate the pan halfway through. (I forgot and it seemed ok.) Test with a toothpick in the center to see if it comes out clean. (It may need another 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven.)
• Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
• Run a knife around the edges of the pan to ensure that the cake will loosen. Turn the cake onto another wire rack set within a rimmed baking sheet (this will catch any dripping goodness). Carefully take off the parchment paper.
• Allow the cake to cool for around 2 hours. Transfer to a platter, cut into serving pieces and enjoy with whipped cream, ice cream, or crème fraiche.

Notes

Cook's Illustrated recommends using a light-colored cake pan with a depth of at least 2 inches. If your cake pan is dark, they suggest taking 10-15 minutes off of the baking time. They warn that a dark pan may cause the topping to be overly sticky and the cake to dome in the middle.

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated (Jan 2016)