This Upside-Down Pear Cake by Chetna Makan is absolutely delicious, caramel-y, and addicting to make. It’s quite an easy cake and so delicious!
I’ve had the joy of making this deliciously moist and yummy pear cake three times now and it’s one of my favorites from Chetna’s book, The Cardamom Trail. I’ve had my eye on this recipe for awhile now because it’s actually the first recipe in the book! I made this cake for my monthly live Twitch baking show, and it was so much fun! Full video of the stream coming soon.
This cake has an absolutely delicious dark caramel exterior and crunch, and the hints of cardamom and almonds mix perfectly together. I put my own take on it with a Chai Masala mix, substituting the cardamom and a different sugar.
Here’s my adapted notes from Chetna’s original recipe for the Upside-Down Pear Cake.
Chai Masala versus Ground Cardamom
Rather than ground cardamom, I use my Chai Masala mix, which I use for making tea. It takes a bit of effort to grind the cardamoms, so I’ve been swapping my chai mix quite often and I haven’t noticed a difference, especially since it is mostly green cardamom. This is a recipe I took from amazing blogger Richa Hingle. Here’s how to make my Chai Masala, if you’d like to take a go at it. Otherwise, it’s much easier to use ground cardamom.
Chai Masla Mix
- 3/4 cups green cardamom pods
- 5 cinnamon sticks or 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup cloves
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
Then you grind it all together in a spice grinder and transfer to an airtight container.
Subbing Brown Sugar for Muscovado Sugar
Chetna also suggests Muscovado sugar, which is a sugar substitute which is brown, and has a toffee-like taste. I wasn’t able to find it easily in my local grocery stores, so I tried it once with white sugar, and a second time with brown sugar. Both times tasted good, but I think brown sugar is closer to the Chetna’s intentions.
What Kind of Pears?
There are a variety of pears to use, but I used typical thick green pears that you can find in the states. I believe these were either the thicker D’Anjou or Bartlett pears, while thinner pears in the States are the Concorde or Conference pears. There’s a whole chart here if you’re interested.
While I used the same pan 9-inch width, these fat pears seemed a little on the bigger side, so while I had an excess of pears, I was able to make this cake with just three pears (six halves) rather than four pears, or eight halves. I would buy four pears if you go with thin pears, but with the larger kind, I doubt you’ll need more than three. Because of this, I believe the baking time also shortens. Check your oven at about 45 degrees, and if a skewer comes out clean, you should be good. Both times, I baked at 50 minutes and the cake was definitely quite done, though not dry at all.
Chetna Makan’s Cardamom Caramel Upside-Down Pear Cake
Equipment
- 9-inch pan
- electric hand-mixer or stand-mixer
- Peeler
- spoon for coring
- zester
Ingredients
Topping
- 50 grams unsalted butter about 3 tablespoons
- 100 grams brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Chai Masala or ground cardamom
- 3-4 whole pears, peeled, cored, and halved
Cake
- 150 grams white sugar
- 200 grams unsalted butter, softened about 7 tablespoons
- 150 grams self-raising flour*
- 50 grams ground almonds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 4 eggs
- zest of 2 oranges
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease your 9-inch pan with baking spray or butter.
Caramel Topping
- In a saucepan, heat the butter with the sugar and cardamom mix on medium-low, until just combined. Stir, and don't let it overheat and crystalize. Then, pour the sauce into the tin and spread it evenly over the base. On top of the topping, add your halved pears in a circle, flat side facing down.
Cake
- For the cake, add the ingredients together and mix with an electric whisk until fully combined. Then carefully pour the mixture over, making sure you don't move the pears as you do. The mixture should be just enough to go over the pears but it's okay if the tops of them show through a bit, as the cake will rise.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Then leave in the pan to cool for 10 minutes, and carefully turn over to reveal the beautiful pears on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Other Notes
Like other British recipes, Chetna’s recipe covers the measurements in grams and ounces rather than tablespoons and cups for butter and flour. I’ve included some approximates for you all since it was quite confusing with me for the butter. But for best practices, make sure to measure and weigh for yourself!
For self-raising flour, I can usually find this at my local supermarket, but in case you don’t, it’s easy to make in a jiffy. Just make sure to add an additional teaspoon of baking soda to the mix since that is a separate measurement.
Self-Raising Flour
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Nut-Free Variation
One of my drag friends was bummed he couldn’t try this cake because of its nuts. Luckily, this can be made quite easily nut-free. I don’t believe you’ll miss too much by taking the almonds out. You could sub the 50 grams with an additional bit of flour, but it’s such a small amount that I don’t believe it would affect the cake if you baked it without. Let me know if you try it!
What do you think of this cake? If you enjoyed this Upside-Down Pear Cake, definitely also check out the incredible book The Cardamom Trail by Chetna Makan.
It’s chockful of delicious recipes, and I also tried a savory tart that I documented earlier. Thank you Chetna for sharing with us!
Note, this blog post contains an affiliate link from Amazon. I get a small commission if items are purchased through the link at no cost to the buyer.
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