Pear-Walnut Upside-Down Cake
By Annie PetitoPublished on November 23, 2015
Time
2 hours, plus 2 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted½ cup packed (3 ½ ounces/99 grams) dark brown sugar 2 teaspoons cornstarch ⅛ teaspoon salt 3 ripe but firm Bosc pears (8 ounces each)Cake
1 cup walnuts, toasted½ cup (2 ½ ounces/71 grams) all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon baking powder ⅛ teaspoon baking soda 3 large eggs 1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted¼ cup vegetable oilBefore You Begin
We strongly recommend baking this cake in a light-colored cake pan with sides that are at least 2 inches tall. If using a dark-colored pan, start checking for doneness at 1 hour, and note that the cake may dome in the center and the topping may become too sticky. Serve with crème fraîche, or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Pour melted butter over bottom of pan and swirl to evenly coat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in small bowl and sprinkle evenly over melted butter.
- Peel, halve, and core pears. Set aside 1 pear half and reserve for other use. Cut remaining 5 pear halves into 4 wedges each. Arrange pears in circular pattern around cake pan with tapered ends pointing inward. Arrange two smallest pear wedges in center.
- Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in food processor until walnuts are finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer walnut mixture to bowl.
- Process eggs and sugar in now-empty processor until very pale yellow, about 2 minutes. With processor running, add melted butter and oil in steady stream until incorporated. Add walnut mixture and pulse to combine, 4 to 5 pulses. Pour batter evenly over pears (some pear may show through; cake will bake up over fruit).
- Bake until center of cake is set and bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 1/4 hours, rotating pan after 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully run paring knife or offset spatula around sides of pan. Invert cake onto wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; discard parchment. Let cake cool for about 2 hours. Transfer to serving platter, cut into wedges, and serve.
for the topping
for the cake
Time
2 hours, plus 2 hours coolingYield
Serves 8 to 10Ingredients
Topping
Cake
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Topping
Cake
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Topping
Cake
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Bosc pears, with their dense flesh, hold their shape after baking, and cutting the pears into wedges allowed them to be baked from raw but remain manageable to eat with the cake. Instead of a sweet, somewhat-dense yellow cake, we made a walnut-based cake, which was light but sturdy, earthy-tasting and less sweet, and visually attractive. Lining the cake pan (a light-colored pan helps the cake cook more evenly) with parchment and removing the cake from the pan after 15 minutes—good practice for any upside-down cake—allowed the top to set while preventing the bottom of the cake from steaming and turning soggy.
Before You Begin
We strongly recommend baking this cake in a light-colored cake pan with sides that are at least 2 inches tall. If using a dark-colored pan, start checking for doneness at 1 hour, and note that the cake may dome in the center and the topping may become too sticky. Serve with crème fraîche, or lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan and line bottom with parchment paper. Pour melted butter over bottom of pan and swirl to evenly coat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in small bowl and sprinkle evenly over melted butter.
- Peel, halve, and core pears. Set aside 1 pear half and reserve for other use. Cut remaining 5 pear halves into 4 wedges each. Arrange pears in circular pattern around cake pan with tapered ends pointing inward. Arrange two smallest pear wedges in center.
- Pulse walnuts, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in food processor until walnuts are finely ground, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer walnut mixture to bowl.
- Process eggs and sugar in now-empty processor until very pale yellow, about 2 minutes. With processor running, add melted butter and oil in steady stream until incorporated. Add walnut mixture and pulse to combine, 4 to 5 pulses. Pour batter evenly over pears (some pear may show through; cake will bake up over fruit).
- Bake until center of cake is set and bounces back when gently pressed and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 1/4 hours, rotating pan after 40 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully run paring knife or offset spatula around sides of pan. Invert cake onto wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; discard parchment. Let cake cool for about 2 hours. Transfer to serving platter, cut into wedges, and serve.
for the topping
for the cake
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