Cardamom Honey Pear Upside-down Cake

by Suzanne on November 14, 2012

in Breakfast, Sweet Things

I have a special treat for you today!! My friend Patty is our guest blogger today and I couldn’t be happier. Patty is one of those ladies I found an immediate connection with not only because we are food bloggers but when I first saw her Facebook page photo and she was sporting pink hair, I knew I’d like her :). Yes, pink is her favorite color and just so happens to be mine too. Her personality comes out in her blog and I enjoy reading her down to earth blog without a bunch of fluff, that’s the kind of girl I am too. She made fantastic looking cake for us today that I can’t wait to try out. Give her a shout out by commenting and/or like her Facebook page I know she would love it if you followed her blog. Enjoy getting to know Patty a little better. Thanks Patty for guest hosting today! 🙂

Thanks Suzanne for inviting me to guest post here on your lovely blog.  While I’m a fairly new follower of Suzanne at You Made That?  I’ve made a connection with Suzanne’s ‘little space on the web’.  I enjoy Suzanne’s focus on family, creativity in the home and her shared adventures in the kitchen.  Although there are over a thousand miles between us, I feel like we’re neighbors in this modern world where we visit each other sitting in front of our computers often thinking about what we might make for dinner that night.  Our shared blogging adventure is both fun and an expression of our creativity but it’s also very practical-that’s just one of the things I enjoy about my food blog.  I’m happy to be a follower of Suzanne as well as pleased to share a favorite breakfast cake recipe with you and a little about myself.

 I’m Patty and I blog at Patty’s Food where I live in Northern California.  I’m located outside of San Francisco, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.  I know it sounds corny but the Golden Gate Bridge is so beautiful to me that I never get tired of seeing it when I drive into the city!  I’ve lived in Northern California all my life and didn’t get very far from where I was born- just on the other side of the San Francisco bay from where I live now.  I’m married to a wonderful, loving and very supportive man, although he has been known to complain about his dinner being served cold when I’m trying to get that perfect shot for my blog!  I have 3 grown children and a fantastic son-in-law.  We are blessed with 3 grandchildren who live in our same town so we are able to spend lots of time with them and have also started attending youth soccer games as grandparents, talk about seeing life come full circle!  The youngest of our children is my son who is 28 years old and he is the one who got me started with blogging, he said,‘Mom-you cook all the time, you need a blog!”  He set me up on a Google blog and the rest is history.

It’s no secret that I love to cook and one of the pleasures of living in the bay area is our access to local organic produce through farmers markets, small specialty stores and in many cases our own backyard vegetable gardens.  Right now I’m growing kale, arugula and lettuce in my small backyard garden patch but in the Summer I like to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans and herbs- I like to think of it as my own salad bowl that’s as fresh as can be for my daily use.  I also like to bake with seasonal produce like the Bartlett pears that I used in my cake, they are grown in Lake County just a few hours north of my home.

Today I’m sharing a cardamom honey pear upside down cake made with yeast, but please don’t let that scare you, it’s really very simple to make.  This cake has a lovely yeast fragrance, a tender crumb and is topped with sweetened honey flavored pear slices.  It could be served with whipped cream on top for dessert but I like it for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
Thanks again for having me Suzanne, I enjoyed sharing with everyone and would love to invite you to visit me at Pattysfood.com.

Cardamom Honey Pear Upside-down Cake

Ingredients:
For The Fruit
4 Bartlett pears, ripe but still firm to touch
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For The Cake
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1- 1/4 ounce envelope active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2&1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions:
Make the fruit-
Step 1: Peel, core and slice the pears in half, then slice each half in 4 slices.
Step 2: Melt the butter in a 10″ cast iron skillet, swirling to cover both bottom and sides of the pan. Add the pears, sugar and honey to the pan. Cook over medium high heat , turning the pear slices until slightly browned on both sides, about 8 minutes, turn off the heat and arrange the pear slices, forming a layer covering the bottom of the skillet.
Make the cake-
Step 3: Place 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a standing mixer with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast, set aside to proof (get foamy)
Step 4: In a separate medium bowl, whisk the warm milk with the egg, egg yolks, cardamom, vanilla, salt and remaining sugar. Beat the milk/egg mixture into the foamy yeast.
Step 5: Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time on medium speed, scraping the mixing bowl down as needed and beating until the dough is smooth. Beat the soft butter into the dough then raise the speed to medium-high, beat until smooth and shiny, about 3 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead it briefly until smooth.
Form the dough into a circle the same size as the cast iron skillet and lay it over the pear slices. Place a sheet of waxed paper on top and let rise for about 30 minutes, it will puff up but doesn’t need to double in size like bread.
Step 6: Turn the oven on to 350F. Place the cake into the hot oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the cake forms a domed top and is golden brown. Wait several minutes for the cake to cool off before handling.
Place a cake plate on top of the warm cake and flip it upside down on to the cake plate. Carefully remove the pan, serve warm with whipped cream if you like.

Makes: a 10 inch cake and serves 8-10.
Adapted from Seasonal Fruit Desserts by Deborah Madison

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1 Rose from Magpie's Recipes November 14, 2012 at 1:27 pm

Oh my gosh Patty this is sooo good! Definitely what I want to do with my pears 🙂 Nice to meet you Suzanne! You have such a lovely space!

2 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:16 pm

Thanks Rose! ..and thanks for the cardamom I used in my cake;-) I just love having a bag of precious cardamom from your family!

3 Liz November 14, 2012 at 3:25 pm

So fun to find Patty here! She has the most awesome desserts…I just shared one of her recipes on my blog today…and here you have another fabulous treat! So stunning, too!!!

4 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:15 pm

Thanks for the compliment Liz, you are so sweet;-)

5 Lawyer Loves Lunch November 14, 2012 at 3:30 pm

This cake is gorgeous, Patty! I love the idea of sweetened and spices pears and am convinced I could eat a bowl of them on their own. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly wouldn’t turn down the pears with cake 🙂

Suzanne, it’s so nice to “meet” you via Patty’s blog.

6 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:14 pm

Thanks Azmina! I love the idea of a bowl of sweetened pears too 😉

7 Erin @ Dinners, Dishes and Desserts November 14, 2012 at 3:38 pm

What a great cake Patty! Wonderful guest post!

8 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:13 pm

Thanks Erin;-)

9 Laura (Tutti Dolci) November 14, 2012 at 3:41 pm

So fun to see Patty here, Suzanne! I love this cake – the cardamom, honey and pear sound so delicious together!

10 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:13 pm

Thanks Laura, You are a sweetie;-)

11 ashley@bakerbynature November 14, 2012 at 3:46 pm

What a gorgeous and unique cake! Lovely.

12 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:12 pm

Thanks for the lovely compliment Ashley;-)

13 Valerie November 14, 2012 at 4:04 pm

Love the combination of flavours happening in this cake! Cardamon, honey, and pears! Yes, please!! I just learned so much about Patty (and a bit about you too, Suzanne!). 😀

14 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Thanks Valerie, you’re so sweet to come by for a visit;-)

15 Juliana November 14, 2012 at 6:37 pm

Hi Suzanne, nice meeting you…I came from Patty’s and I love this cake of yours…beautifully done.
Hope you are having a fabulous week 🙂

16 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Thanks so much Juliana!

17 Magic of Spice November 14, 2012 at 7:08 pm

Hi Patty, this cake looks so good! And you know I am a cardamon addicts 🙂
Great guest post ladies 🙂

18 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:10 pm

Thanks Alisha, cardamom is a favorite for sure;-)

19 Cher November 14, 2012 at 7:29 pm

Patty is a gem isn’t she?
Beautiful guest post & Suzanne, love your site! Nice to “meet” you.

20 Laura Dembowski November 14, 2012 at 8:17 pm

This cake looks lovely! I love that it is a yeast cake too!

21 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:09 pm

Thanks Laura, I love baking with yeast too;-)

22 Betty November 14, 2012 at 8:33 pm

So glad to find your blog! I came over from Patty’s to see more of her fabulous pear cake- lovely! 🙂

23 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:08 pm

Thanks Betty, you’re so sweet to visit and leave a comment;-)

24 Roxana | Roxana's Home Baking November 14, 2012 at 9:26 pm

Hi Patty, so nice to see you here on Suzanne’s blog.
The cake looks great, i love adding cardamon to bake goodies, so flavorful

25 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:07 pm

Thanks Roxana, It’s been a pleasure to guest post on Suzanne’s blog. I just love the aroma from the cardamom in baked goodies;-)

26 Patty November 14, 2012 at 9:53 pm

Thanks for having me Suzanne! I’ve enjoyed getting to know you and we will have to keep that love of ‘pink’ thing going;-)

27 Jen Laceda @ Tartine and Apron Strings November 14, 2012 at 11:58 pm

Hi, Patty and Suzanne! Wonderful blog post! It’s always nice to learn something new about one of our food blogger friends 🙂 This cake looks divine, and I swear, I was thinking of making a spiced pear cake but haven’t decided on which recipe yet. This might be a good starting point…

28 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:05 pm

Hi Jen, Thanks, I can’t wait to see what lovely creation with spiced pears that you decide on…I’m sure it will be delicious;-)

29 Lisa November 15, 2012 at 3:23 am

Suz…I was just looking at Patty’s blog and marveling at her beautiful photos and delicious recipes! What a coinky dink ;D This cake is phenomenal..love the cardamom with the pears..and love how moist the crumb looks. Great guest post, Patty! 🙂

30 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Thanks Lisa, I’m headed over to check out your blog 😉

31 Suzanne November 15, 2012 at 9:51 pm

Thanks Lisa, you really a sweet friend and I love ya.

32 Jean (Lemons and Anchovies) November 15, 2012 at 9:35 am

What a nice guest post from Patty, Suzanne. Upside down cakes were one of my favorites growing up–would have been so nice to share this with you two over a pot of tea. 🙂

33 Patty November 15, 2012 at 2:03 pm

Thanks Jean, upside down cakes were always one of my favorites too. I would love to share this with you and Suzanne over a pot of tea 😉

34 Lisa {AuthenticSuburbanGourmet} November 15, 2012 at 9:23 pm

Patty – what a lovely guest post! You are a terrific baker and I can attest to your prowess in the kitchen. I am in love with cardamom and this cake is making my mouth water. Lovely photos!!!

35 Patty November 18, 2012 at 1:06 pm

Thanks Lisa, you are a terrific baker too 😉

36 Aimee @ ShugarySweets November 16, 2012 at 5:40 am

Oh my. That is a beautiful cake, and I love pears!!

37 Patty November 18, 2012 at 1:06 pm

Thanks Aimee 😉

38 Sophie November 16, 2012 at 2:51 pm

What a lovely guest post, this surely is! 🙂 Lovely written too!

MMMMMMMM! You also have a lovely blog!

39 Patty November 18, 2012 at 1:05 pm

Thanks for your sweet comment Sophie 😉

40 Rowena @ Apron and Sneakers November 16, 2012 at 4:36 pm

When Patty bakes, I have to focus on the pictures and stare at them. They’re always beautiful and delicious! So nice that you got together in this post Patty & Suzanne!

41 Patty November 18, 2012 at 1:05 pm

Thanks Rowena 😉

42 Maureen | Orgasmic Chef November 16, 2012 at 9:26 pm

What a way to have fruit for breakfast! I love cardamom and I like a moist cake and this recipe gives me both.

43 Patty November 18, 2012 at 1:04 pm

Thanks Maureen;-)

44 Jessica | Portuguese Girl Cooks November 18, 2012 at 9:39 pm

This is such a beautiful cake! I love the combination of flavours, and I especially love that it is made with yeast!

45 Suzanne November 18, 2012 at 10:48 pm

I know Patty did a fabulous job with this cake and I can’t wait to give it a try too.

46 Lora @cakeduchess November 18, 2012 at 10:52 pm

Lovely flavors in this gorgeous cake, Suzanne. Love baking with pears and I can’t wait to try your recipe:)

47 Priscilla @ShesCookin November 20, 2012 at 1:48 pm

Love you both! Pink also happens to be one of my favorite colors – more accurately, fuschia 🙂 And upside down cakes are one of my fave desserts and a big fan of cardamom, too – so this is a win, win.

48 Patty November 27, 2012 at 3:53 pm

Thanks Priscilla, the feeling is mutual;-)

49 Terra November 23, 2012 at 10:12 pm

How did I miss this? I am a cardamom freak:-) This cake is so beautiful, and looks extremely moist! Yum, Hugs, Terra

50 Patty November 27, 2012 at 3:53 pm

Thanks Terra, I love cardamom too;-)

51 Lindsay November 24, 2012 at 8:13 am

Can this be done in a 12 inch cast iron skillet?

52 Patty November 27, 2012 at 3:52 pm

Hi Lindsay, Yes it could be done in a larger skillet but you may want to add another pear to make enough slices to cover the bottom of the larger pan.
-Patty

53 AB June 14, 2013 at 4:40 am

I just took this cake out of the oven and it is beautiful!! Can’t wAit until it cools to enjoy it. Thanks for the recipe.

54 Suzanne June 14, 2013 at 12:29 pm

Oh I bet it’s going to taste wonderful, Patty would be so glad you made this.

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