Caramel Upside-Down Cake With Pears and Ginger

by Nyani-Iisha Martin

Caramel Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp diced crystallized or candied ginger

1/4 cup water

2 smallish ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/3 inch thick

Cake:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk or sour cream

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger (can be increased to taste)

2 cups flour

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp ea salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ground ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. Put the 1/3 cup sugar and the 2 tbsp water into a saucepan and heat over medium high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to medium and let cook without stirring but with occasional swirling, until the syrup becomes a golden-to-amber caramel color. Remove from heat and add the 1/4 cup water carefully; the mixture will spatter. Add the diced ginger and place back on the heat, whisking to blend, and cook until most of the water has evaporated again, about 10 minutes. Then pour the mixture into the cake pan, spreading it to cover the bottom, and leave it to cool until safe to touch.
3. Arrange the pear slices over the caramel; eat the extra. Set aside.
4. Cream the butter and the sugars; add the eggs and lemon juice and beat for at least 2 min. Mix the grated ginger into the milk and strain through cheesecloth into the egg and butter mixture. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices, and fold them in, then pour the batter over the pears and caramel in the cake pan.

Bake the cake until it tests done, about 30-45 minutes. This cake recipe scales up and down very well; [one] version was about twice as large as this recipe, and I've made small versions of this with an egg yolk and half a pear.

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