Upside-Down Chocolate-Pear Cake

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About two weeks ago was the International Women’s Day and I made a cake especially for that day, so everyone could make it and also enjoy a cup of tea with their loved ones. Some could decide to surprise their mothers, sisters with this delicious cake, so I really thought about it and I wanted to make something special, not the normal cake you can have every normal day.

The first thought that came into my mind was CHOCOLATE. If you know me just a little or if you follow me on social media, you know I am pretty close to becoming a chocolate-addict (if not already). Secondly I thought FRUIT, (the second thing I may be addicted #kiddingnotkidding ). I looked around and I saw I had some juicy, fresh pears laying on my fruit corner. Chocolate plus pears = a nice combo.
But what about something that will make it stand out of the crowd of cakes?! Caramelized brown sugar!! That would be awesome addition, but how … Oh, I’ll make it upside down!!

And there was my puzzle completed. Kind of, because I had to turn my dreamy thoughts into reality. I can say that everything went okay, besides the fact that I didn’t post the recipe on 8 March and neither on Monday as I promised on my Instagram (@eatwithsteff). 
I suddenly decided to take a week off and here I am today. But hey, surprise is a surprise when it comes unexpectedly and that means you can make this cake whenever you want to make someone or yourself happy. (this puts emphasis on the fact that you should express your gratitude, love, respect to those surrounding you any day of the year…)
Let’s jump to the recipe..


Ingredients:
-        1 ½ cups of flour
-        5-6 tbsp of cacao powder
-        1 ¼ cups of granulated sugar
-        1 ½ tsp of baking powder
-        ½ cup of sunflower oil or melted butter
-        ½ cup of milk
-        3 eggs
-        1 tsp of vanilla paste/ extract
-        ¼ tsp of salt
-        60 gram dark chocolate (I used 75%)
-        3 tbsp of butter
-        6 tbsp of brown sugar

Preparation:
Firstly mix the granulated sugar with the oil or melted butter with a whisker or a fork (don’t worry, you don’t need an electric mixer, but use it if you have one to save a couple of minutes).

Next add the eggs, milk and vanilla paste/extract and mix well again.

Now that we have our liquid ingredients ready, we can sift all the dry ones on top. (yeah only one bowl). Incorporate all ingredients together without overmixing. Tip* If you’re using a whisker, you may want to switch it up for a spoon or a fork for this step, because it may get pretty thick.


Preaheat the oven at 180 °C. Then roughly chop the dark chocolate and add that to the mix, give it a stir and leave it aside. In the meantime cut pears in slices (not too thin and not too thick) and oil the baking pan.


Now is time to prepare the butter and sugar caramel. Heat a pan (medium heat) and put the butter to melt slowly. Lower the heat and add the brown sugar + stir. Let it heat up without burning it until it begins to bubble up a little.

Remove and pour it immediately in the baking tray, even if the sugar is not fully melted. Carefully place the pear slices on top and then pour evenly the cake batter.

Put it in the oven and let it bake for about 40-50 minutes and after you check with the toothpick if it’s properly baked, take it out and leave it to cool down for at least 15 minutes before flipping it.

You can now enjoy it with a cup of tea or ice cream on top and some good company.


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