{"id":4745,"date":"2025-08-14T10:43:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T10:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/recipe\/pear-upside-down-cake-recipe\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T20:53:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T20:53:57","slug":"pear-upside-down-cake-recipe","status":"publish","type":"cuisine-recipe","link":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/recipe\/pear-upside-down-cake-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Pear Upside-Down Cake Recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">Few desserts capture the essence of fall quite like an upside-down cake, where caramelized fruit becomes the star of the show. This elegant pear upside-down cake transforms humble ingredients into something truly spectacular \u2013 tender, buttery cake topped with gorgeous fan-arranged pear slices that have been lovingly caramelized in rich amber sugar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\">The magic happens when you flip this beauty out of the pan, revealing glistening pears that look like they belong in a French patisserie window. Each slice offers the perfect balance of moist, vanilla-scented cake and jammy, caramelized pears with just a hint of cornmeal for texture. Whether you&#8217;re hosting a dinner party or simply want to elevate a weeknight dessert, this stunning cake delivers both visual drama and incredible flavor with surprisingly simple techniques.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-normal break-words\"><strong>Prep Time:<\/strong> 30 mins<br \/>\n<strong>Total Time:<\/strong> 2 hrs<\/p>\n<h3>How to make Pear Upside-Down Cake<\/h3>\n<h3><strong>Ingredients<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided, plus more<\/li>\n<li>3\/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour<\/li>\n<li>3 tablespoons coarse yellow cornmeal<\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2 teaspoon baking powder<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 teaspoon kosher salt<\/li>\n<li>1 cup sugar, divided<\/li>\n<li>2 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pittmandavis.com\/pears\/c\/ft_1001_4\/\">Pittman &amp; Davis Pears<\/a> (about 1 pound)<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract<\/li>\n<li>2 large eggs, separated<\/li>\n<li>1\/2 cup whole milk<\/li>\n<li>Whipped cream or caramel gelato (optional)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Directions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Preheat oven to 350\u00b0. Butter pan. Line bottom with a parchment-paper round. Whisk four, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir 1\/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high. Boil syrup without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until sugar turns dark amber, 8\u201310 minutes. Remove pan from heat; add 1 tablespoon butter (caramel will bubble vigorously) and whisk until smooth. Pour caramel into prepared cake pan and swirl to coat bottom.<\/li>\n<li>Peel, halve, and core the pears. Place flat on a work surface and cut lengthwise into 1\/8&#8243;-thick slices. Layer slices over caramel, flat side down, overlapping as needed.<\/li>\n<li>Mix remaining 3\/4 cup sugar, 8 tablespoon butter, and vanilla in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add yolks one at a time, beating to blend between additions and occasionally scraping bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture.<\/li>\n<li>Using clean, dry beaters, beat egg whites on low speed in a medium bowl until frothy. Increase the speed to medium and continue to beat until whites form soft peaks. Fold about 1\/4 of the whites into cake batter. Add in remaining whites. Gently fold just to blend. Pour batter over pears in pan. Smooth top.<\/li>\n<li>Bake cake, rotating pan halfway through, until top is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out with a few small moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Run a thin knife around the inside of pan to release cake. Note: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.<\/li>\n<li>Invert cake onto a plate. Remove parchment paper. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or caramel gelato, if desired.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6353,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[358,360,308,359,91],"cuisine-recipe-category":[49],"cuisine-recipe-course":[28],"cuisine-recipe-cuisine":[],"class_list":["post-4745","cuisine-recipe","type-cuisine-recipe","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bartlett-pears","tag-comice-pears","tag-danjou-pears","tag-holiday-red-pears","tag-pears","cuisine-recipe-category-desserts-and-sweets","cuisine-recipe-course-dessert"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cuisine-recipe\/4745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cuisine-recipe"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cuisine-recipe"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4745"},{"taxonomy":"cuisine-recipe-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cuisine-recipe-category?post=4745"},{"taxonomy":"cuisine-recipe-course","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cuisine-recipe-course?post=4745"},{"taxonomy":"cuisine-recipe-cuisine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog2.pittmandavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cuisine-recipe-cuisine?post=4745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}