Honey Pear Upside Down Cake

This upside-down cake swaps the usual pineapple-and-brown-sugar for thinly sliced pears, honey, cinnamon, and orange zest, building a caramel-like glaze that soaks back into the cake when you flip it.

Bartlett or Anjou pears are the right call here because they hold their shape under heat without turning to mush, and their natural sweetness pairs with honey instead of fighting it.

A tablespoon of flour dusted over the pears is the unsung move. It thickens the honey-juice mixture into a proper glaze instead of a thin syrup that soaks the bottom of the cake into wet sponge.

The cake batter itself is lean, using honey instead of granulated sugar for sweetness and just 2 tablespoons of melted butter for fat. Orange juice brightens everything up and ties into the orange zest in the pear layer.

Let it cool exactly 5 minutes before inverting, any longer and the glaze sets tight to the pan, any shorter and the cake is too fragile to flip cleanly.

Chef Tips

• Grease the pie pan generously, including up the sides, so the hot honey glaze releases cleanly
• Slice pears thin and fan them in a tight spiral, bare spots show up as pale patches in the finished cake
• Don’t overmix the batter, stir until just blended, overmixed batter makes a tough, dense cake
• Run a knife around the edge before flipping to release any stuck spots

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of bourbon or rum to the honey glaze for a grown-up twist
• Sprinkle toasted sliced almonds over the pears before adding batter for crunch
• Swap cinnamon for cardamom or a pinch of ground ginger for a different spice profile