Whole Wheat Pear Upside-Down Cake

As you may know, Bruce and I have begun working on a whole grain book--all main-courses, quinoa to barley, tritacale to buckwheat. It's not due to the publisher until later this year--and not out until next year. But if you've followed this blog for a while, you've seen the beginnings of the idea for that book in the wheat berry and quinoa salads that have made frequent appearances here.

While there will be no sweets or breads in that book, I've lately become obsessed with desserts made with whole grains. Admittedly, I'll never get the soft, luxurious texture of a cake made with all-purpose flour. But I am getting something else: a big hit of whole grains, something every single one of us needs in our food choices.

As we said in REAL FOOD HAS CURVES, always go browner, whenever you have a choice. To that end, I'm baking up a storm.

One note before we get going: this recipe calls for whole-wheat pastry flour, a very finely ground whole grain flour. It's sometimes known as "graham flour." Bob's Red Mill makes a good one--click here. Do not use whole-wheat flour--which is too coarse. You need a fine-ground soft wheat with the bran and whole-grain goodness intact. If you must make a substitution, use half cake flour and half regular whole wheat flour.

OK, on to the recipe.

First, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Use some butter on a piece of wax paper (or your fingers) to throughly grease the inside of a 10-inch (25 cm), fluted Bundt cake pan.

Peel, halve, and core four Bosc pears. These, as you know, are slightly smaller than Anjou and firmer than Comice. Place the halves cut side up in a large, high-sided skillet and fill it with water until the water comes halfway up the pears. Bring to a simmer over high heat, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly for 15 minutes, using a wide spatula to turn the pears over halfway through their simmering. Transfer the pears to paper towels lined on your work surface, then gently blot them dry and let them cool for 10 minutes while you carry on with the recipe.

Melt 3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter in a small saucepan with 3/4 cup (135 grams) packed, dark brown sugar over low heat. Stir often--and once the butter has melted and you have a grainy paste, remove the saucepan from the heat so it can cool a bit.

Next, whisk all this in a large bowl: 2 1/2 cups (450 grams) whole-wheat pastry flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking soda, 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt, 1 teaspoon (3 grams) ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground ginger, and 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground cloves.

Finally, whisk 1/2 cup (120 ml) honey, 1/2 cup (120 ml) dark molasses, and 3/4 cup (180 ml) very hot water in a small bowl or Pyrex measuring cup until the honey and molasses have dissolved.

OK, now you're ready to put it all together to make a batter. First, beat 6 tablespoons (90 grams) cool unsalted butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy and light, about 4 minutes, scraping down the inside of the bowl occasionally. Add 1 large egg and continue beating until creamy.

Add about a third of the flour mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated. Beat in half the honey mixture. Beat in half the remaining flour mixture, again at low speed, until incorporated. Beat in the rest of the honey mixture, then the remaining flour mixture just until there are no white pockets left in the bowl.

To assemble the cake, spread the butter and brown sugar mixture across the bottom of the pan, plopping the grainy paste in place and spreading it out with your fingers. (Dare you not to lick them.) Put the pears in the cake pan, cut side facing in, fitting each half into one of the pan's large, hollow grooves at the sides, so that the thicker part of the pear is down near the pan's center and the thinner part up near the top.

Now pour the batter into the pan. Make sure you first get it into the places between the pears, filling in the cracks. Then go ahead and fill the pan with the rest of the batter. It's a bit of a pain, but you have to make sure the pears are cemented in place. The batter will not come all the way up the pan--but will rise in the oven.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean and the cake is firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then invert the cake onto plate or serving platter to remove the pan and unmold it. One warning: the cake will be quite soft and gooey. Don't despair. Use a rubber spatula to get out every speck of the sugary/buttery coating still in the pan, dabbing it into place around the cake.

The cake needs to cool to hold the pears in place. If you see one slipping down, skewer it into place until the sugar hardens around it. Later, you can remove any skewers. And you're good to go. An upside-down cake with pears: buttery and irresistible. Don't even tell anyone it's a whole-wheat confection! I brought it to book group last week. Not a slice made it home.

Comments

[Deb]

This looks fantastic!! and yummy

[Bari]

So excited to hear about the whole grain book you are working on. I am in love with Quinoa. I make it almost every week in some form or another. Would like to increase that repertoire. Muffins that I can make and freeze for breakfast or snacks on the go would be awesome. I am about to start a new job that will be work from home with a lot of time spent in my car locally. I am worried about how I will maintain my REAL FOOD life with my new schedule!

[Mark Scarbrough]

Bari: Don't worry--just do. You can keep to that real-food schedule by preparing whole grain salads to take to work. And by making sure that real food is a priority without becoming a guilt thing or a horrible rock around your neck. I'm still "on the plan"--and actually still losing weight! And there's more food flying around here than you can imagine right now.

M.