Apples and pears from Canadian orchards are filling the fruit section of your local supermarkets. Now’s the time to put them to use.
Celebrate the local harvest of pears and apples and make this appealing dessert. Serve warm with ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Apple-Pear Upside Down Cake
50 ml (1/4 cup) butter
125 ml (1/2 cup) lightly packed brown sugar
45 ml (3 tbsp) chopped toasted pecans
2 fresh apples
1 firm but ripe pear
Cake
375 ml (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
175 ml (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) baking powder
2 ml (1/2 tsp) each baking soda, cinnamon and ground ginger
1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
75 ml (1/3 cup) butter, softened
1 egg
175 ml (3/4 cup) buttermilk
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla
Grease bottom and sides of 2.5-l (9-inch) square cake pan. Add butter and melt in a 180 C (350 F) oven. Stir in brown sugar and spread evenly in pan; sprinkle with pecans.
Peel, core and thinly slice apples and pear, slicing pear horizontally; toss together and arrange evenly over sugar mixture.
Cake: In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Add butter, egg, buttermilk and vanilla. With electric mixer, beat at low speed until moistened; beat at medium speed for 1 minute, scraping side of bowl.
Spoon over fruit and spread evenly. Bake in a 180 C (350 F) oven for about 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake and carefully invert onto plate, replacing any bits that may stick to pan. Serve warm.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Nutritional information per serving (when recipe serves 10): 294 calories, 3 g protein, 10 g fat, 48 g carbohydrates.
Source: Foodland Ontario.