Salted caramel pear upside down cake…it’s kind of a mouthful to say but I’ll bet you’re wishing you literally had a mouthful of this sweet, salty, and spicy cake right now! With a scoop of creamy vanilla bean ice cream, right?
Well here’s the good news– this cake is super easy to make and can be yours in no time at all. I have pretty minimal baking skills and usually avoid making cakes because something about them just makes me a bit nervous. Plus, my best friend is A BAKER, so why try to fix something that’s not broken?! Irina can make me all the cakes.
This salted caramel pear upside down cake is the exception to the rule though. After baking this cake for Irina for a change, SHE suggested I share it on the blog so I knew I had a winner! I just can’t resist how lovely it makes the whole house smell and the feeling of accomplishment as all the ingredients come together. This recipe is inspired by an Ambitious Kitchen recipe that I tried a few years ago. If you’re looking for lovely dessert ideas as well as healthy eats, I highly recommend this blog!
Ingredients For Salted Caramel Pear Upside Down Cake:
2-3 ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup of chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk of choice
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Brown sugar for dusting
Coarse Sea Salt for sprinkling
For Salted Caramel:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
3/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Directions For Salted Caramel Pear Upside Down Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Generously grease the sides of a 9-inch cake pan with butter or non stick cooking spray.
Peel and thinly slice pears and set aside.
For the salted caramel sauce:
Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in saucepan over medium heat.
Add 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar and stir until bubbling.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and stir for 30 seconds then turn off heat.
Spread caramel mixture in cake pan and layer with pears and chopped pecans.
For the cake batter:
In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside.
Using paddle attachment in stand mixer (or hand mixer), beat 1/2 cup of softened butter and both sugars until creamy.
Add eggs, vanilla, and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Alternate adding flour mixture and milk.
Beat about 2 more minutes until smooth, then add in sour cream and mix until well combined.
Scoop cake batter on top of the pear and salted caramel mixture.
Sprinkle brown sugar all over top of cake batter.
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick put into center comes out clean.
Cool for 15-20 minutes then run a knife along the outer edge of the cake, place on platter, then flip over to remove cake from pan.
Sprinkle top of cake with sea salt.
Slice and serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and salty with a subtle hint of fall spice. Definitely invite some friends or family over to share with them too!
happy cooking,
Yuli
Ingredients
- 2-3 ripe pears, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup of chopped pecans
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup of milk of choice
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Brown sugar for dusting
- Coarse Sea Salt for sprinkling
For Salted Caramel:
- 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Generously grease the sides of a 9-inch cake pan with butter or non stick cooking spray.
- Peel and thinly slice pears and set aside.
For the salted caramel sauce:
- Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter in saucepan over medium heat.
- Add 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar and stir until bubbling.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and stir for 30 seconds then turn off heat.
- Spread caramel mixture in cake pan and layer with pears and chopped pecans.
For the cake batter:
- In a small bowl mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside.
- Using paddle attachment in stand mixer (or hand mixer), beat 1/2 cup of softened butter and both sugars until creamy.
- Add eggs, vanilla, and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk.
- Beat about 2 more minutes until smooth, then add in sour cream and mix until well combined.
- Scoop cake batter on top of the pear and salted caramel mixture.
- Sprinkle brown sugar all over top of cake batter.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick put into center comes out clean.
- Cool for 15-20 minutes then run a knife along the outer edge of the cake, place on platter, then flip over to remove cake from pan.
- Sprinkle top of cake with sea salt.
- Slice and serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.
