Maple Pear Upside Down Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Pear Upside Down Cake is an incredibly moist and tender cake with amazing fall-inspired flavors of maple, cinnamon, and cardamom. It's a simple cake with a delicious flavor you'll love during pear season.
Love baking with pears? Try this easy Almond Pear Tart or these baked pears with 4 ingredients.
Recipe Overview
- Time: From start to finish, about 1 hour.
- Kitchen Tools: 9-inch round cake pan, electric mixer to cream the butter.
- Serves: The cake will serve 8-10.
Key Ingredients
These simple ingredients, when combined, make the most delicious soft and tender cake with minimal effort! Here's what you need:
- Ripe Pears: I prefer Bosc pears because they hold their shape during baking, but Bartlett pears are also delicious and work well.
- All-purpose flour for structure
- Leaving: Baking powder + baking soda + salt
- Spices: Cinnamon, cardamom, and vanilla create a warm, spiced, fall-flavored cake you won't soon forget.
- Sweetening: Maple syrup for flavor and richness, brown and granulated sugar for the perfect balance.
- Eggs: For structure and moisture in the cake
- Milk and Sour Cream: Both of these ingredients work in tandem together to create the perfect balance of moisture, richness, and sweetness.
How to Make an Upside Down Pear Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper or coat it with cooking spray.
Step 1: Make Maple Butter Sauce
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small pan over medium heat. Add maple syrup and brown sugar, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until it has reduced slightly. Remove from the heat and let cool while peeling and slicing the pears.
Pour the maple mixture into the prepared 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices over the top.
Step 2: Make the Pear Cake Batter
In a large bowl, beat granulated sugar and remaining ½ cup butter until fluffy; 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated, and then stir in the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in sour cream and carefully spread the batter over the pears.
Step 3: Bake the Pear Cake
Bake until the top is golden brown and the edges pull away slightly from the pan; 45 to 50 minutes. Or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and then carefully invert onto a plate, and let cool completely.
When inverting the cake, there will be additional maple sauce that runs over the sides of the cake. As the cake cools, the maple sauce will permeate the crumb make this pear cake even more delicious.
Upside Down Cake Origins
Upside-down cakes became popular in the 1920s... and have origins in my neck of the woods.
The first recorded recipe for a pineapple upside-down cake was published in a 1924 Seattle charity cookbook. It was then called Pineapple Glacé.
By 1925, Gold Medal Flour was publishing the recipe nationwide.
Since the early days of upside-down cakes, home bakers began experimenting with fruits other than pineapple. Today, there are a wide variety of upside-down cake recipes, like peaches, apples, berries of all kinds, figs, and even bananas.
More Dessert Recipes You'll Love
_ Recipe
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email, and we'll send it to your inbox. Plus, you'll get delicious new recipes from us every Friday!
Pear Upside Down Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 to 2 pears peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¾ cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment or coat with cooking spray.
- Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat; add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until it has reduced slightly. Remove from the heat and let cool while preparing the pears.
- Pour the maple mixture into the prepared 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices over the top.
- In a large bowl, beat granulated sugar and remaining ½ cup butter until fluffy; 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated, and then stir in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom. With the mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in sour cream and carefully spread the batter over the pears.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and the edges pull away slightly from the pan; 45 to 50 minutes. Or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cake and then carefully invert onto a plate, and let cool completely. Cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Video
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Stupid recipe if you’re not going to list the proportions of ingredients
Specific measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.