Upside-down Pear and Ginger Cake

upside-down pear and ginger cake - does it look yum or what?

A long-awaited visit from old friends from America was all it took to make me  try this latest find from the November issue of Olive– I have to add the words Comfort Food Special were writ large on the cover and I thought to myself when I was reading it on the plane back to Istanbul from London recently, ooh I’m going to love this!

Well, dear Reader, I did.

First of all, the picture of this cake was a winner: there it was looking suitably moist and sticky studded with the pear halves and walnuts. Now, both of these are right in season here. I always have nuts in the house so all I had to do was go to my guy over the road and buy some pears.

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A quick skim of the other ingredients was all I needed to see that they were all right here on my shelves. I didn’t have black treacle, fair enough, but I did have Golden Syrup – they actually sell both here now - and as you can see, that worked just perfectly. If you don’t have the light brown sugar as specified and you live here in Turkey, I suggest you mix regular granulated sugar with a little üzüm pekmezi or grape molasses, readily available here. The brown sugar that you find in the supermarkets is demerara and is not a substitute.

If the idea of a dark sticky cake full of spicy flavours appeals, read on!

Upside-down Pear & Ginger Cake

Actually called 'Grandpa Beard’s upside-down ginger cake' in Olive magazine

Serves 10

Ingredients

125g/5oz plain flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon/toz tarçin

1 tsp ground ginger/ toz zencefil

¼ tsp grated nutmeg/rendelenmiş küçük hindistan cevizi

A pinch ground cloves/toz karanfil

I medium egg

125g/5oz light brown sugar

90g/3oz black treacle (or Golden Syrup)

125ml/4 ½ floz  soured milk (I used a few drops lemon juice added to fresh milk)

50g/2oz butter, melted

TOPPING

50g/2oz butter

100g/4oz light brown sugar

400g/14oz tin pear halves, drained, OR 3-4 fresh pears/armut, peeled, halved and cored with the help of a teaspoon, then poached in water with 1-2 tbsp sugar and  some lemon peel. Mine took a good half hour as they were hard.

Walnut halves to decorate

Method

·        Heat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4.

·        To make the topping, gently melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the sugar and stir for 1-2 mins. Smooth over the base of a 20cm cake tin with a removable base, 7cm deep. I DIDN’T USE THIS KIND OF TIN AS I DIDN’T WANT TO RISK THE MELTING SUGARY/BUTTERY BASE SEEPING OUT AND MAKING A MESS OF THE OVEN. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE! Arrange the pears on top, cut-side down with a few walnuts around the outside.

poaching the pears if you prefer not to use tinned

here are the poached and drained pear halves
arranged in the tin with the walnuts

·        To make the cake, sift the flour, bicarb and spices into a bowl, and add ¼ tsp of  salt.

and here are the weighed and measured ingredients

 Blend in the egg, sugar, treacle, soured milk and butter in a separate large bowl, and fold in the flour mixture. Beat with a wooden spoon for 1 minute, and then pour the mixture over the fruit in the tin. Put on a baking tray and bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (try to skewer a patch with cake rather than a pear!). Remove from the oven, run a knife around the edge and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

·        To serve, remove the collar if using the tin with the removable base, and invert the cake onto a plate or cake stand. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. Avoid chilling at all costs! Serve with cream or ice cream. If you are somewhere where you can get it, crème fraîche would go brilliantly.

Upside-down Pear and Ginger Cake

Afiyet olsun!

If you like upside-down cakes, why don't you try this one with orange slices , sticky citrus?  .....it's also great!