Chetna Makan's Cardamom Caramel Upside-Down Pear Cake
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!
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
*Self-raising flour is quite easy to make. For every 1 cup of flour, add 1.5 teaspoons of baking soda and half a teaspoon of salt, and ta-da! That's self-raising flour.
I highly recommend using at least an electric hand mixer to mix this. The ingredients will be chunky, so it'll be quite a work-out by hand.