In Good Taste Recipe: Cory's Upside Down Pear Chocolate Cake

Email us

231 NW 11th Ave

Portland, OR 97209

6302 SW Meadows Road

Lake Oswego, OR 97035

(503) 248-2015

In Good Taste
located in the Pearl District, Portland, Oregon.
http://www.ingoodtastestore.com

Home

UPSIDE DOWN PEAR CHOCOLATE CAKE

From the upcoming book: “Rustic Fruit Desserts” By Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. To be released in Spring of 2009, published by Ten Speed Press. Reprinted by permission.

Chocolate and pears make an excellent combination – here, the bittersweet chocolate and the sweet pears meld together to form the perfect balance. For this recipe, you can either take a rustic approach and toss the pears haphazardly into the cake pan or opt for a more elegant look by arranging the pears in a concentric circle to fan out on the bottom of the pan. Look for a good dark chocolate (also called bittersweet). This is not the same as unsweetened chocolate. Also, there are two kinds of unsweetened cocoa on the market; be sure to use unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa, not “natural” cocoa. Natural cocoa, when combined with baking soda, can impart a bitter taste to a cake and can also cause the cake to rise too much.

Oven Temperature: 350°F

Bake Time: 40 minutes

Pan, buttered: 9” x 2” round cake pan

Serves: 12-15

Topping:

Granulated sugar 1 cup / 7 ounces

Water ¼ cup

Pears, firm but ripe, small, peeled, cored and each cut into 12 pieces, 3 each

In heavy bottom sauce pan, combine sugar and water and stir until sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil and cover with a tight-fitting lid for 2 minutes (covering in this way allows the steam to wash down the sides of pan to prevent any sugar crystals from forming). Uncover the saucepan and continue to boil the sugar. Gently and slowly swirl the pan to allow the sugar to cook evenly as it becomes a dark amber color. Carefully pour the caramel into the buttered cake pan and allow it to harden. The cake pan will be very hot from the sugar, so take care in moving it if you need to. Fan the pear slices on top of the caramel in a circle around the perimeter, filling in the center with the remaining slices. Set pan aside to assemble cake.

Cake:

Dark chocolate, not unsweetened, 4 ounces

chopped

Unsalted butter 4 Tablespoons / ½ stick / 2 ounces

All-purpose flour 1 cup / 5 ounces

Cocoa powder, Dutch-processed 1/3 cup / 1 ounce

Baking soda ¾ teaspoon

Sea salt ½ teaspoon

Granulated sugar ¾ cup / 5 ¼ ounces

Eggs 2 each

Pure vanilla extract 1 teaspoon

Whole milk ½ cup

Additional 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, to grease pan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a small sauce pan over low heat.

While chocolate is melting, sift the flour, cocoa, soda and salt together. Set aside. Transfer the melted chocolate to the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar. Blend on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and the eggs one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk in two additions, finishing up with flour as last addition. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake approximately 40-45 minutes. The cake should bounce back slightly when touched in the center.

Cool the cake on a rack for 15 minutes, then flip it over on a plate and allow the inverted cake pan to sit for 5 minutes before attempting to remove the pan. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Storage: Once cooled, this cake can be wrapped in plastic. It should keep for 3 days at room temperature in cool weather.

Home