Triple Chocolate Pear Upside Down Cake

METHOD

Ready in 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 23cm round cake pan and line the base with baking paper. If using a tin with a removable base, cover the outside bottom of the tin with aluminium foil to prevent the mixture leaking.
To make the butterscotch pears: In a large pan, combine the 40g butter, brown sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla. Set over medium heat and place the pears cut side down in the pan. Cover the pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Remove the lid and cook pears, turning occasionally, until they are tender without being mushy - about ten minutes depending on the ripeness of the pears.
While the pears cook, start on the cake mixture. In a small pot, heat 180g of butter with the milk over low heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is just warmed.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, 1 tsp of vanilla and the warm butter and milk mix. Then whisk in the sugar.
Sift over the remaining dry ingredients and whisk gently to incorporate, switching to a spatula as the mixture gets thicker.
Remove the pears from the pan and arrange them cut side down in the bottom of the cake tin to form a round pattern. Reserve the remaining butterscotch for serving.
Using a large serving spoon, dollop the cake batter over the pears gently, to prevent them moving out of position.
Place the cake on the centre rack of the oven and bake for approximately one hour, turning half way through baking. As ovens can vary, begin checking the cake at 50 minutes. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean.
Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before running a knife around the outside edge and flipping it onto a large serving plate.
Warm the remaining butterscotch sauce and pour over the cake. Serve warm with large scoops of Kāpiti Triple Chocolate ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

Servings

BUTTERSCOTCH PEARS:

4 FIRM PEARS, PREFERABLY ANGÉLYS OR BOSC, CUT IN HALF LENGTHWISE, CORE AND STEMS REMOVED
40g BUTTER (SALTED)
150g BROWN SUGAR
1 tsp VANILLA BEAN PASTE OR EXTRACT

CHOCOLATE CAKE BATTER:

180g BUTTER (SALTED)
180ml MILK
100g SOUR CREAM
2 EGGS, ROOM TEMPERATURE
1 tsp VANILLA BEAN PASTE OR EXTRACT
300g CASTER SUGAR
50g DUTCH PROCESSED COCOA POWDER
200g FLOUR
1 ½ tsp BAKING SODA

½ tsp SALT

TO SERVE:

1L TUB KĀPITI TRIPLE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

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