A couple days ago my neighbor gave me a bag of pears. She said that they were ready to eat right now and she already had too many. Well, lucky me. I was thinking of what I could do with them -- besides just slicing them and eating them by themselves. I recently came across some recipes for pear grilled cheese, or pear pizza. They sounded good, but a little too heavy for these hot summer days.
Lately, I've noticed a lot of delicious olive oil cakes on the dessert menus at some of our favorite local restaurants. They're always delicious and I've been wanting to make one at home for awhile. So, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone. I found this recipe here and added and took away a few ingredients. It turned out pretty delicious and was simple to make. So light, but rich, and the perfect amount of sweetness. Even Colby thought it was good. So good, in fact, that when I asked for a bite of his later (which he paired with some peach and goat cheese ice cream he made earlier this week...amazing) he almost said no. Almost.
Upside Down Pear Olive Oil Cake
You're gonna need...
2 pears, I used Bosc, cored and sliced
2 cups of flour
1 3/4 cups of brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 1/3 cups of olive oil
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of heavy cream
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
2 tablespoon of lemon juice
Preheat your oven to 350.
Line a 10 inch spring form pan with parchment paper and then spray with non-stick spray. I cut out a large circle of parchment paper (about the size of the bottom of the pan) and used that. Evenly layer the sliced pears on the bottom of the pan.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
Pour the batter into the pan over the pears. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Stick a toothpick or knife into the center and make sure it comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan and then separate the cake from the side of the pan by inserting a knife and running it along the edge. Open the spring form pan and invert the cake onto a cooling rack or cake stand. Remove the bottom of the spring form pan and then peel the paper of the layer of pears.
Serve plain, with ice cream, or freshly whipped cream.
Recipe adapted from here.
Enjoy!
