Food Apparel

Dressing Food for Every Occasion.

  • Home
  • About
    • What You’ll Find Here
    • Meet the Stylists
  • Recipe Index
    • Alphabetical Recipe Index
    • Drinks
    • Breads & Pastries
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • The Main Event
      • Breakfast
      • Salads & Vinaigrettes
      • Soups & Stews
      • Sandwiches & Wraps
      • Pasta & Pizza
      • Meat
      • Other Main Dishes
    • On the Side
      • Appetizers & Snacks
      • Dips & Sauces
      • Other Sides
    • Sweets & Treats
      • Brownies & Bars
      • Candies
      • Cakes & Cupcakes
      • Cheesecake
      • Cookies
      • Pies & Tarts
    • Healthify Me!
      • Gluten-Free
      • Low Fat
      • Paleo
      • Vegan
  • Press and Contact
You are here: Home / A to Z Recipe Index / Pear Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Pear Upside-Down Cake Recipe

By Christina | Food Apparel 12 Comments

Pear Upside-Down Cake at FoodApparel.com

My friends – I had to repost this recipe for this Pear Upside-Down Cake. Because:

1) It’s amazingly good. If you missed it the first time, that’s not okay. I’m telling you, you need to try this.

2) The pictures are waaaaaay better (which will hopefully entice you even more to make it. Seriously. It’s calling out your name). It’s amazing what a little practice and a better camera can do over the course of a year. (Still lots of room for improvement, but we’ll take pride in our small victories.)

This cake, this cake, this cake. What can I say? It’s just that good. I have to serve me up a big ole’ piece from the get go because there are never leftovers. In fact, someone is usually hiding in the corner, licking off the serving plate.

Pear Upside-Down Cake at FoodApparel.com

This cake is also awesome with pineapple, or even apple touched with a little bit of cinnamon (I still need to post these versions, but they are fairly straightforward so you can experiment a little, if you want). Why is this the best upside-down cake? And I mean, THE BEST? Because it has a perfect cakey crumb and the caramelized topping is just to die for. The last time I made it, someone asked, “How exactly did you make that caramel topping? It’s soooooo good.”

How did I make it? Well, it’s easy really. Butter and brown sugar baby! Give this recipe a try and see how easy this cake really is and how impressed everyone will be.

Pear Upside-Down Cake at FoodApparel.com

(This version pictured here is with all milk as the original recipe calls for. In the previous version posted, the pictures show a deeper colored cake because 1/2 of the milk was substituted with pear juice)

Pear Upside-Down Cake at FoodApparel.com
4 from 4 votes
Print

Pear Upside-Down Cake

Course Dessert
Cuisine Classic
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 8 -12 slices
Author Christina Lakey

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 fresh pear halves or canned, peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 1¼ cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup milk
  • ⅓ cup oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar together over low heat, stirring occasionally until dissolved. (Alternatively use your microwave at half power or less in 30 second increments, stirring each time, until melted. If you go longer or at a higher power setting, you may have a buttery mess on your hands. Consider yourself warned!)
  3. Pour caramel mixture into 9-inch round cake pan.
  4. Top with sliced pears, working from the inside to the outside, creating a spiraled pattern.
  5. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
  6. In a large mixing bowl, mix together milk, oil, egg, and vanilla until just blended.
  7. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until just incorporated.
  8. Pour cake batter into pan over caramel and pears.
  9. Place cake in middle rack in oven. On a lower rack, place a large cookie sheet directly underneath the cake pan to catch any possible drips.
  10. Bake approximately 50-60 minutes, or until caramel has bubbled up around the sides, cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out with dry crumbs adhering to it.
  11. Remove from oven and let cake stand for approximately 10 minutes on a wire rack. (This is an important step: if you turn cake out too soon, some of the topping of your cake might fall apart; alternatively, if you turn cake out too late, you may not be able to get the cake out because the caramel will have cooled too much and stuck to the pan.)
  12. Flip cake out onto a serving dish and serve warm or cold.

Recipe Notes

Quick Tips:

1. It is absolutely essential to put a cookie sheet underneath the cake while baking. If not, you may be doing a thorough scrub down of your oven when you are done as a little caramel may leak out.
2. A 9-inch pan the perfect size for this recipe.
Smaller - you will incur some of the caramel bubbling over as mentioned above (you can try leaving out a little of the batter to avoid this).
Larger - the caramel won't bubble up the sides quite right - still delicious, but not living up to its full potential.
Change it Up:

1. Substitute approximately 6 fresh or canned pineapple rings in place of pears for the traditional Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
2. Substitute 1-2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced and sprinkled with a little bit of cinnamon (and nutmeg) in place of the pears.
2. Replace ½ of the milk with juice from the canned fruit you are using for a denser, slightly sweeter, and deeper-colored cake.

 

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts

Christina | Food Apparel

I'm Christina and I'm a self-proclaimed foodie and chocoholic! I am a real estate broker by trade. I have a wonderful husband, 3 girls 4 and under (crazy!!!) and a hyper dog. Want to know my quirks? Go here for a little Q&A.

Latest posts by Christina | Food Apparel (see all)

  • HOW TO DRESS UP YOUR BLACK BEANS: 5 WAYS - July 24, 2017
  • Butternut Squash Risotto with Sage and Sausage Recipe - November 22, 2016
  • Chewy Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - November 12, 2015

Filed Under: A to Z Recipe Index, Cakes & Cupcakes, Christmas, Easter, Fall Favs, Fall-Winter, Holidays, Mother's Day, Seasons, Sweets & Treats, Thanksgiving Tagged With: cake, caramel, classic style, dessert, pear, upside-down cake

« Magic Line Aluminum Cake Pans: Bakeware & Cookware
Microplane Grater and Zester: Tools & Gadgets »

Comments

  1. huntfortheverybest says

    June 1, 2014 at 8:27 am

    it looks yummy!

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      October 23, 2014 at 7:50 am

      Thank you! And I assure you, it is!

      Reply
  2. Tiffany says

    October 23, 2014 at 7:52 am

    This looks amazing! I love pineapple upside down cake and I am sure I would love this! Pinned!

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      October 24, 2014 at 9:21 am

      Thanks Tiffany! Upside-down cakes are da bomb!

      Reply
  3. Crystal says

    January 15, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    This was amazing. I made it tonight for a dinner party. Everyone loved it!

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      January 17, 2016 at 6:15 am

      Crystal – I’m so glad that you liked it! This is seriously one of my favorite cakes of all time.

      Reply
  4. Adrian Hood says

    March 8, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    I made a double mix for two cakes for a work function. Super easy and super yummy. Served the next day, warmed slightly and with a generous spoon of whipped cream.

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      March 30, 2016 at 1:35 pm

      Glad that you liked it! It’s seriously my favorite. And good to hear you were generous with the whipped cream – just like it should be!

      Reply
  5. Marcy says

    March 21, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    I made this cake!!! It’s delish! When your having last minute company this is a great desert!
    I served it warm. I got a lot of compliments. Used canned pears. Can’t wait to try canned peaches.
    I also had canned cherries and walnut halves. I put them between the pears. Thank you for the recipe.
    Can’t wait to try peaches!

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      March 23, 2017 at 4:01 pm

      I’m glad you loved it. It’s seriously one of my favs!

      Reply
  6. Steve says

    September 7, 2017 at 9:01 am

    Outstanding! This is an easy recipe that ends up looking and tasting like it came from an upscale bakery. I substituted 3/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce + a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup in the cake batter to cut down sweetness. (Dropped the milk by 1/2 cup per conversion instructions I found.) We had run out of white flour, so I used whole wheat and upped the baking powder to about 2 tsp to deal with the heavier flour. Maybe it was beginner’s luck, but the rise was great with consistent small bubbles and satisfying texture. Next time I’ll add some spices, as the whole wheat has a slightly strong flavor. The caramel has such a deep, rich taste, especially where it crisped a little on the edges. Reheated it gently in the microwave this morning for breakfast. My wife is lucky I was strong enough to stop eating it and leave her some. Great recipe!

    Reply
    • Food Apparel says

      September 22, 2017 at 10:40 pm

      Steve – So glad that this turned out for you! I would love to include some of your modifications in the Notes section. Also, you are speaking my language talking about that crisped caramel edge……that is the ABSOLUTE best! Drooling just thinking about it.

      Reply

Whatdayathink? Let us know..... Cancel reply

Search Food Apparel

Index

We're Tammy and Christina and we love to eat! We're passionate about bread, chocolate, sushi, and well, FOOD! We've created the FoodApparel community to celebrate "dressing food for every occasion." Read More…

The content of this website is ©2013-2017 by Food Apparel LLC unless otherwise noted. Some posts may contain affiliate links. Food Apparel LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

SWEETS AND TREATS

Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies....and don't forget the chocolate chunks!!!!
All Butter Flaky Pie Crust at FoodApparel.com
Find YOUR PERFECT flaky pie crust: 3 ways to try out (combo, butter, shortening) @foodapparel
Combination Flaky Butter & Shortening Pie Crust Recipe - the best of both worlds! @foodapparel
Giant Cookie Recipe! Great way to use up leftover Halloween candy or use for a birthday in place of a cake!
Key Lime Torte at FoodApparel.com (You'd never guess it's from a box!)
Chocolate Drizzled Pecan Pie Bars: Tastes like the pie, Eats like a cookie! #recipe @Food Apparel
No-Deflate Make-Ahead Whipped Cream Recipe. One special ingredient helps this to last! @foodapparel
Easy Strawberry Sheetcake! Comes together fast and tastes delicious.
Orange Pecan Biscotti on FoodApparel.com
Lemon Rosette Cake
Orange White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies at FoodApparel.com
Pear Upside-Down Cake at FoodApparel.com
Pumpkin Streusel at FoodApparel.com
Chocolate Stracciatella Cream Cheese Pumpkin Roll: Recipe and Tips for a Crack-Free Cake!

MORE GOODIES! -->

  • Food Apparel: Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in