Gluten Free Maple Hazelnut and Pear Upside Down Cake

If you’re like me, you’ve got two boxes of Harry & David’s “Fancy Gift Pears” sitting on your counter and you’ve already challenged your significant other to a competition for who can eat the most pear slices in one evening and there are still SO MANY PEARS LEFT. Thank you, mom, for these amazing pears, but what do we do with them now? We need to host a pear party. Or, look up recipes for pear desserts until inspiration strikes and you’re motivated enough to get off of the couch after work and toss this incredible cake in the oven. I promise you, it’s worth the effort. The main inspiration for this treat comes from Mark Bittman of New York Times Cooking, who has a great recipe for a pear upside down cake. I blended that with the seemingly pervasive theme of hazelnut+pear in other recipes, and pear+ginger/spices in still others. And of course, made it gluten free and made use of the jar of maple butter sitting sadly unused in my fridge. The result? An incredibly moist, hazelnutty, caramelized spiced pear upside down cake that just melts in your mouth.

Pears always seem like the drab cousin to the apple: a worn out Bartlett looking bruised and dejected, with dreary colors and nearly-mushy interior and never as peppy or crisp or as vibrant as a Braeburn or Fuji. Let me tell you, though, these “Fancy Gift Pears” are the 2020, new year’s resolution-fueled, back at the gym, confidence-filled pears of pears. Delightfully blushing with (fall?) colors and packed with heaps of pear juice (is this a thing? if so, I’m in). For those of you outside of southern Oregon, Harry & David’s is the mass-producer of pears in the region. I grew up viewing catalogues and treats by the holiday/gift/fruit behemoth including chocolate covered berries, a monthly selection of beautiful fruits, perfectly-tiered holiday cookie boxes or stacks on stacks of truffles. This year, my mother snagged a part time job at the largest employer in the Rogue Valley to bring in some extra cash around the holidays, and boy did we reap the benefits. Pears for EVERYONE! Truffles for everyone! What with the employee discount and free shipping, my mother pulled the ultimate holiday gift move and got what seemed like everything that H&D had to offer. Which is great, until you realize you have over a dozen perfectly-ripe pears to eat in precisely four days before they pull an avocado and turn dreadfully brown. So, here we are eating this gluten free upside down cake with extra pear slices on the side.

This was, despite the hurried baking attempt to use up holiday pears, one of my favorite cakes to photograph, because ap[pear]ently (that’s for you, dad), pears are drop dead gorgeous when caramelized into the bottom of a cake. Just look at the stained-glass-like glow through the translucent segments delicately preserved in maple caramel. Absolutely divine. And tastes pretty great too. If you’re a hazelnut fan (which, if you’ve read this far, I’m guessing you are), try out these other recipes: hazelnut chocolate and marionberry Swiss roll, or these chocolate hazelnut snow cookies! As always, make this your own, and do what tastes good!

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Gluten Free Maple Hazelnut and Pear Upside Down Cake

Source: Sisters Sans Gluten, Mark Bittman

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time55 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Keyword: banana cake, hazelnut, maple, pear

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 200kcal

Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

• Sauce pan
• 9-inch round pan

Ingredients

For the maple and pears:

• 4 Tbsp good quality salted butter
• 3/4 Cup maple butter or maple syrup
• 3 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3 large semi-ripe pears – cored, peeled, and thinly sliced

For the cake:

• 8 Tbsp good quality salted butter room temp
• 3/4 Cup white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/8 tsp each ground nutmeg and ginger
• 3/4 Cup gluten free flour 1-1 mix
• 3/4 Cup packed ground roasted hazelnuts/hazelnut flour instructions below for roasting unsalted hazelnuts
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 Cup milk

Instructions

• First, roast your hazelnuts. Preheat oven to 275° Fahrenheit. Spread whole, unsalted hazelnuts on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the outer skin peels away a bit. Remove and pour into a kitchen towel. Let cool a few minutes, then vigorously rub towel so that some of the hazelnut skins are removed. Once the nuts are cool, blitz up in a food processor or nutribullet until you have roasted hazelnut flour. Now make the maple/caramel sauce for the cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Grease a pie plate or 9-inch round cake pan and set aside. In a small sauce pan, heat the maple butter or maple syrup, brown sugar, butter, and salt over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is completely melted. Continue to boil for two full minutes (sauce will be thick and caramel-like) then remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes before pouring the sauce into the greased pan. Peel, core, and thinly slice your pears, then arrange in concentric circles on top of the sauce in the greased pan, then set aside while you mix the cake batter.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and white sugar with an electric mixer until lighter and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, spices, and salt and beat until combined. Then, using a spatula, fold in the flour, hazelnut flour, and baking powder. Fold in the milk until combined and smooth, then pour batter over the sauce and pears in the pan, carefully spreading the top so as to not move the pears. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325° Fahrenheit and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes until top is browned and a knife when inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (do not under bake or the center of the cake will be gooey because of the excess liquid from the pears).
• Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before putting a plate over the cake and flipping the entire pan onto to the plate. Let it continue to cool for 10-20 minutes before slicing and serving. Great on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche!

Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cake!

Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber