Pear Upside Down Cake with Rosemary & Walnuts

This cake is a winner, but all of my upside down cakes are!   (Nothing like being overly confident!).

I am not an expert on pears, but I recommend using Bosc pears for this cake.  They hold up nicely in the baking, and stay sweet and firm and are a good small size.

I will be making this again for the holidays since it is so pretty and so damn good!   Pears are just pretty, not sure why I am so attracted to their form in art.

Let's bake the cake.   It's my basic upside down cake recipe:

For this cake, I used a 9" cast iron skillet, which was heavy to flip, but it worked well.   Feel free to use a 9" cake pan buttered and greased very well.

Ingredients List:

For the topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp butter

3-4 Bosc pears, peeled and sliced in half (remove the seeds and core w/ a melon baller)

For the cake:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil or mild olive oil

1 sprig of fresh rosemary, (needles only, chopped)

zest of a large lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds scraped from a vanilla bean

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans

Melt the butter and brown sugar in the cake pan or skillet and keep swirling until a thick brown caramel is forming.  

 Working quickly, set the pears in the caramel, cut side down.   Fill in the holes with walnuts or pecans.

Turn off the heat and let the fruit set.

Make the batter.   Mix everything up and pour directly over the pears in the caramel.

Bake 350F for 35-40 minutes.

Let rest in the pan for exactly 10 minutes and run a knife around the edges.

Using oven mitts, cover with a plate and flip the cake into a larger serving dish (if the fruit sticks, don't stress, you can just put it back in place).

Let cool and serve with whipped cream or without!

SO GOOD!