A beautifully caramelized pear upside-down cake with warm spices and a tender, buttery crumb.
13 steps, about 60 minutes start to finish.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make brown butter: melt 7 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat until golden and nutty. Cool and allow to re-solidify in the refrigerator.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the browned butter in a 9-inch round cake pan over medium heat.
Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved into a caramel.
Remove from heat. Arrange pear slices decoratively in the caramel.
For the batter: cream 4 tablespoons softened butter with granulated sugar until light.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add vanilla.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour.
Spread batter evenly over the pears.
Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Let rest 1 minute, then invert onto a serving plate.
Peel off parchment if used and serve.
“Invert the cake after just a minute out of the oven, not longer. Let it cool in the pan and the caramel hardens and glues the pears down, so you lose the whole top when you flip it.”
