Pear and Honey Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Oct 8, 2011
Cecily Layzell

Pear and Honey Upside-Down Cake - Cecily Layzell

An unusual upside-down cake recipe that combines juicy pears, sticky honey and fresh thyme to delicious - and beautiful - effect.

Pears are available all year round but are at their best in the fall. In this recipe, the cake is turned upside down after baking to display a beautiful patchwork of juicy fruit. Combined with an egg-rich batter sweetened with honey instead of sugar and delicately flavoured with fresh thyme, this unusual cake looks as good as it tastes.

Tip: Use pears that keep their shape when cooked, like Conference pears or similar. The recipe also works with apples.

Pear and Honey Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Preparation time: 20 minutes.

Cooking time: 1 hour.

Makes about 12 pieces of cake.

Pear and Honey Cake Ingredients:

1.5 lb / 750 g pears
4 oz / 115 g butter, softened + 1 tbsp
4 oz / 115 g light brown cane sugar + 2 tbsp
Rind and juice from 1 (preferably organic) lemon
6 medium eggs
5 oz / 150 g runny honey + 2 tbsp
10 oz / 300 g self-raising white flour
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (remove any stalks), finely chopped

Pear and Honey Cake Preparation:

Pre-heat the oven to 340° F / 170° C. Generously grease a cake tin about 10 inch / 25 cm across with 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle the base with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Peel and quarter the pears and remove the cores. Arrange the pears, curved side facing downwards, in the tin. There should be as little space as possible between the pieces.
Sprinkle about half the lemon juice over the pears to prevent them from becoming discolored.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and mix well.
Slowly add the honey, mixing all the time.
Quickly fold in the flour, remaining lemon juice, lemon rind and fresh thyme. Mix just until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Pour the batter over the pears and bake the cake for around one hour or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for around 10 minutes. To remove the cake, place a plate upside down over the tin and carefully turn the plate and tin over. The pears will now be facing upwards.
Eat the cake while still warm or leave to cool further on the plate. Just before serving, warm 2 tablespoons of honey in a small saucepan and drizzle over the top of the cake for a rich, sticky glaze.
Slice and serve with whipped cream or Greek yoghurt (optional).