Upside-Down Pear Cake with Fudge Sauce

5 from 2 votes

Upside-Down Pear Cake with Fudge Sauce

This fudgy upside-down pear cake recipe is simple to make but the results are so impressive. It's warming and rich, full of fruit and topped with silky fudge sauce.

Prep Time20

Cook Time35

Total Time55

Course: Baking

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Ingredients

For the cake:

3 pears cut into eighths
50 g dark brown sugar
175 g butter softened
175 g light brown sugar
175 g self-raising flour
4 eggs

For the fudge sauce:

110 g butter
110 g light brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

For the cake:

Line and butter a 25cm ovenproof frying pan or cake tin, making sure the base is well greased. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/355f. If you want to make it in a smaller tin, you can but it will just take slightly longer to bake.
Peel the pears then slice them in half. Use a teaspoon to remove the core and then slice thinly.
Lay the pear slices nicely in a spiral pattern - this will become the top of the cake once it’s turned out. Sprinkle over the 50g of dark brown sugar.
In a food processor, blend together the butter, light brown sugar, eggs, and self-raising flour until smooth. Pour this mixture over the pears, spreading it gently to cover.
If you don't have a food processor, just cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk. Add the eggs, mix, followed by the flour.
Bake in the preheated oven for around 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 2 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a plate. Allow to cool completely.

Make the fudge sauce:

Melt the butter and light brown sugar in a small saucepan. Add the lemon juice and stir until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Once the sauce is glossy, pour the warm fudge sauce over the cooled cake, smoothing it to cover the surface. Slice and enjoy!
The video below will help with this recipe.

Video

Notes

Scroll up for a step by step guide on how to make this upside-down pear cake recipe.

To store: keep for up to 3 days in a sealed container.

To reheat: you can warm slices of this fudgy pear cake for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, if you like. I like it at room temperature.

To freeze: I wouldn’t recommend freezing as the fruit can bleed into the cake which changes the texture.

Make ahead: I often make this cake a day in advance as it keeps well overnight, either in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in clingfilm. Top with the fudge sauce when ready to serve.

Fruit: you can use all sorts of fruit in this recipe. Stone fruit like apricots, peaches and nectarines, or apples work well.

Serving suggestions: you could serve with softly whipped vanilla cream, a dollop of crème fraîche or yoghurt if you prefer tangier flavours (you can swirl through some runny honey or vanilla extract, if desired). A scoop of vanilla ice cream is delicious if you are having it for pudding.

This recipe is inspired by Ballymaloe Cookery School. I've made Rachel Allen’s apple version of this countless times and I have adapted it to include pears here.

Nutrition