Sunday, January 22, 2012

Ginger Pear Upside Down Cake

I just so love the concept of upside down cakes. The beautiful swirls of fruit created at the bottom of the pan, baked golden and glossy become the top of a beautiful cake. The first time I came across an upside down cake was when my sis and bhabhi 'S' made it for my birthday. Oh those were some days - sis and I used to bake cakes for each and every family member's birthday or any other special occasion. Our whole family used to back us up and appreciate the end products, even daddy whose drink cabinet we would raid for our supply of rum or his finest cognac for our cake experiments :). Well the recipe I am now about to share is one with a very unusual (IMHO) combination ginger and pear. I wanted to try the recipe only for this combination and the verdict - both of us liked the flavor, it looked beautiful and tasted nice but we thought this was one cake which cannot be stored for very long, it was fab on day 1, mighty fine on day 2 but beyond that the difference in taste was quite noticeable. Since this is a big cake when I make it again I will halve the recipe if I am making for just two of us or bake it when we have company.
Ingredients
1 Cup Whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Unsulphured Molasses
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2" piece of Fresh Ginger Root peeled and grated
1/2 tsp lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 lime
3-4 slices of Pear mashed and added to cake *(Optional - I had some extra pieces ;))
2-3 Tbsp of Raisins
For Topping or should I say bottom layer ??
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1&1/2 tsp Cinnamon Pdr
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 Big Bartlett Pears peeled and sliced

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small microwave proof bowl, add the first four ingredients of the topping and mix till butter is melted, approx 2 mins.
3. Pour this mix in an 8"cake tin and move it around and let it coat the entire surface of the tin, then arrange pear slices all around in a circular fashion. If you are a raisin fan like me feel free to add a few on top of pears.
4. In a mixing bowl sift all dry ingredients and in another mix all wet ingredients.
5. Now mix all wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, throw in the raisins mix lightly, then pour it over the pear slices.
6. Bake for 20-25 mins or until the cake tester comes out clean. Let it cool just a little bit, slice and serve.

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