Upside-down Pear, Syrup and Ginger Cake or Pudding

Ginger lovers, this cake is for you. Ginger Syrup Cake remains one of the most popular cakes in our home, and my tried and true recipe is a crowd favourite on constant rotation. Spice up the ingredients even more, add fresh sliced pears to the equation and this recipe leaps into glorious dessert status.  We have been known to eat this as cake for afternoon tea, and then for dessert as well. Why not, when it is this good.

I made this cake for Mr. HRK's birthday last Tuesday, albeit it was a day late in coming, because of family phone calls and other demands on his big day which was lovely, anyway I think it is nice to extend a birthday into a second day, if not the whole week. The leftovers then became dessert two nights in a row, reheated, and eaten with fresh whipped cream and strawberries. Bonus!

The harmony of Ground Ginger and Cinnamon is indisputable, and they infuse this moist, pear-topped cake with beautiful flavours. The ingredients are mostly mixed together in one large saucepan. How's that for economy in the kitchen.

Just freshly out of the oven

Let's Bake Cake:

Serves: 6-8.

Prep: 20 minutes (+ 20 minutes cooling time)

Cooking: 50 minutes to 1 hour + 10 minutes to cool

Ingredients:

Melted butter, to grease

2-3 large pears, peeled, quartered, cored (approx. 450 g pear when peeled and trimmed)

150 g butter, chopped

200 g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup) treacle

125 ml (1/2 cup) full cream milk

125 ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup + 125 ml (1/2 cup) extra for pouring over cake at the end

2 eggs, lightly whisked (room temperature)

225 g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

60 g glacé ginger or stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped

Double cream to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C

Brush a round 22 cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to grease. Line the base with non-stick baking paper.

Place the butter, sugar, treacle, milk and half the golden syrup in a large saucepan over low heat and cook stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until the butter melts. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

Cut each pear quarter lengthways into 5 slices, or perhaps 4 depending on the size of the pear. Arrange the pear slices overlapping slightly, over the base of the pan.

Whisk the egg into the butter mixture. 

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, mixed spice, and cinnamon over the butter mixture and lightly stir to combine.

Add the glacé/stem ginger and fold until just combined.

Carefully pour the cake batter over the pears. 

Bake in your oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Turn onto a serving platter. (Please see cooking notes below regarding cooking time.)

 Heat the remaining golden syrup in a saucepan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until warm. Drizzle over the pudding. 

The syrup looks dark when this is done, but it seeps into the cake nicely. Mine is a little darker than usual because I added a little treacle to the golden syrup topping by accident. However, it made no difference to the overall result, and works beautifully for dessert with cream or ice cream.

Please don't leave the treacle out of this cake if you can possibly help it. Treacle brings a rich, caramel-like depth to the flavour profile that is then complemented by the warmth of the spices like the cinnamon and mixed spice. Treacle has a very deep flavour, sometimes described as slightly bitter and complex, however this contrasts beautifully with the brown sugar and the more subtle flavours of the ginger. The sticky spiced taste of a ginger cake makes it quite unique.

Serve with cream, or ice cream and strawberries or other berries.

This is how Mr. HRK enjoyed his birthday ginger cake.

Pauline's cooking notes:

• I think it is best to slice the pears while waiting for the butter mixture to cool to avoid the risk of the pears browning. I followed this with measuring and sifting out the flours etc.
• I used Stem Ginger in Syrup instead of glacé ginger because I always have it on hand, making it each year from our annual harvest of ginger.  This is the link to my recipe for seriously delicious Stem Ginger in Syrup. Mr HRK also discovered by accident really that the syrup makes quite a nice cordial drink.
• I used a springform cake tin, but a normal 22cm cake tin would work perfectly. 
• This can be eaten as cake for morning or afternoon tea, and makes a delicious after dinner dessert a well.
• We are fortunate that pears are available all year round here, and I don't think it matters which variety you use.
• A friend told me that treacle can now be difficult to find. I'll test that out next time I am shopping. My jar of treacle was quite old, and I used the last of it. It is so worthwhile to have a jar in your pantry cupboard as it lasts almost forever I think, and is always there if you need it for a cake like this one. 
• Cooking time: Check the cake after 50 minutes in the oven, just to find if it's cooked and isn't browning too much around the edges. If it is slightly cracked on the surface, and pulling away from the edges, it is probably cooked. Always check though with a skewer to make sure. 

Warm wishes,

Pauline