Pear Upside Down Cake with Caramel and Cornmeal
Firm Bosc pears fanned over a caramel cooked to deep amber, under a browned butter and cornmeal batter with enough structure to carry them. Baked in a 9-inch round pan and turned out after exactly twelve minutes.
Ingredients
Caramel and Pears
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar for the caramel
- 3 tablespoons water just enough to wet the sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter whisked into the caramel off the heat
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 medium firm pears about 1 1/4 pounds, Bosc or Anjou, peeled
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice to toss the slices
The Cornmeal Cake
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter browned and cooled to just warm
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour spooned into the cup and leveled
- 1/3 cup fine yellow cornmeal fine grind, not coarse polenta
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar for the batter
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature, whole
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup buttermilk room temperature
Equipment
- 9-inch round cake pan
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
Caramel and Fruit
- Heat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan, line the base with a parchment round and butter that too. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet, because caramel and pear juice will bubble over the rim.
- Stir the 3/4 cup granulated sugar and the water together until the sugar is wet, bring to a boil and do not stir again. Cook 7 to 9 minutes to a deep amber, swirling the pan if the color is uneven and washing down the sides with a wet brush. Off the heat, whisk in the 2 tablespoons butter and the 1/4 teaspoon salt, then pour into the pan and tilt to coat the base.
- Peel, halve and core the pears, lay each half flat and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Toss with the lemon juice and fan them over the caramel cut side down, overlapping from the rim inward, filling the middle with the offcuts.
Brown the Butter and Mix
- Melt the 10 tablespoons butter in a light-colored pan over medium heat and keep going until it foams, quiets, and the milk solids at the bottom turn hazelnut brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape everything into a large bowl, solids included, and let it cool until it is warm rather than hot.
- Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt together in a second bowl. Whisk both sugars into the browned butter, then the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, until the mixture is glossy.
- Fold in the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two, beginning and ending with the dry. Stop as soon as the last streak of flour disappears. The batter is thick and that is correct.
Bake and Turn Out
- Spoon the batter over the fruit in dollops and spread it gently to the edges so the slices are not dragged out of place, then smooth the top.
- Bake 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the pan at 30 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the edges have pulled slightly from the sides and a skewer in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. An instant-read thermometer in the middle reads 205F to 210F.
- Cool in the pan for exactly 12 minutes, run a thin knife around the edge, set a serving plate face down over the pan and invert the two together in one movement. Lift the pan straight up, peel off the parchment and put back any slice that stayed behind.
Notes
Pan size: a 9-inch round metal pan, base lined with parchment. An 8-inch pan needs 8 to 10 minutes longer. Avoid springform pans, since caramel leaks from the seam.
Pears: buy them firm, not ripe. Bosc first, Anjou second. Bartlett and Comice are too wet and collapse into the caramel.
Caramel: wet method, and do not stir once it boils. Deep amber, the color of strong tea, is the target. It will foam hard when the butter goes in, so take the pan off the heat first.
Turning out: exactly 12 minutes in the pan. Longer and the caramel sets and glues the fruit down. If it has set, put the warm pan back over the cake for 2 minutes.
Make-ahead: keeps 2 days covered at room temperature and improves overnight. Reheat whole at 300F for 10 minutes.
Nutrition values are an estimate.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 395kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 290mg | Potassium: 150mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 480IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1mg