Pear-Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Author Notes: I am not a huge fan of all the thanksgiving pies and I know it may be considered un-American, but I really don't like pumpkin pie. I do love a pecan tart but something lighter after all the wonderful savory food is in order. I offer this upside down cake to you all. Upside down cakes can be very simple and homey. This one is a little more upscale as it uses a basic genoise cake batter on top. Let it be known that this cake is really about the fruit. I used fresh cranberries but I think dried ones might be prettier. —flavoristabarr
Serves 8
For Cake
-
2
tablespoons unslated butter
-
4
eggs at room temperature
-
1/2
cup super fine sugar
-
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
-
1
teaspoon vanilla paste
-
1/8
teaspoon salt
-
1
cup sifted cake flour
For the Fruit
-
2
tablespoons unslated butter
-
1/8
cup light brown sugar
-
1
tablespoon light corn syrup
-
4
firm but ripe pears, peeled, quareterd and cored
-
2
tablespoons fresh orange juice
-
1/3
cup dried cranberries (or fresh)
- To prepare the fruit: Toss the pear pieces in the orange juice. Line a spring form pan with parchment. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the brown sugar and corn syrup. Pour into the prepared pan. Arrange the pears and the cranberries on top of the syrup.
- For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter over a medium heat and then remove from heat and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar, salt and vanilla for a good 4 to 5 minutes or until tripled in volume.
- Using a sieve, sprinkle the flour over the egg mixture and gently fold together. Now fold about 1 cup of the batter into the butter mixture. Fold remaining batter and butter mixture together, Pour over the prepared fruit and spread evenly.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes of until the top springs back slightly to the touch.
- Cool for 10 minutes before tying to remove from pan.
- Using a knife gently run it around the edges of the cake. Release the spring and then turn out onto a cake plate. Gently remove the parchment. Dust with confectioners sugar.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Non-Pie Thanksgiving Dessert
More Great Recipes:
Fruit|Cake|Dessert|Make Ahead|Serves a Crowd|Vegetarian|Fall|Winter|Christmas|Thanksgiving
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over 7 years ago SallyCan
Nice recipe...but why use superfine sugar in the cake batter? Would regular sugar work as well?
over 7 years ago flavoristabarr
Yes it will. I just had superfine and use it in light cake batters. You can make superfine but processing regular sugar in your food processor.
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