Tasty Tuesday; Upside Down Pear and Ginger Cake

As you know, this last Saturday was 50% off at Goodwill due to it being the first Saturday of the month. If you use the Savings Card that you can purchase at Goodwill, you will get 60% off (as long as you purchase $25 dollars worth). While I was there on Saturday, I checked out their cookbook section to see if there was anything interesting. I found this cool looking cookbook entitled "Witch in the Kitchen; Titania's Book of Magical Feasts" which I purchased for $1.20. The cover is red velvet with gold lettering. It also has some really great photography in it and interesting recipes including some for a Halloween supper which will come in handy later this year. This recipe caught my interest because I have frozen chopped pears in the freezer from the great sale on fresh fruit from Harry & David a couple months ago. It also uses Ginger which is really, really good for you. On top of it being good for you, the book suggests that ginger is a "romantic ingredient." I'll let you decide what that means!

Upside Down Pear and Ginger Cake

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 small can of pear halves or quarters, drained
2 tablespoons pecan or walnut halves

1 scant cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves

1 large egg beaten lightly
another 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
4 Tablespoons butter, melted, plus a little more for greasing the pan
1/2 cup of milk

2 tablespoons slivered almonds, roasted, for decoration
creme fraiche or ice cream, to serve

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar in a saucepan until they combine smoothly. Pour this mixture into a well-greased, 8 inch cake pan. Place the pear segments in the pan, flat side down. Scatter the pecan or walnut halves around the pear pieces.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices into a large bowl. In another bowl, lightly mix the beaten egg, 1/2 cup sugar, molasses, butter, and milk. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth.

Pour this batter over the pear and sugar mixture in the pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan a little before turning it out.

Serve it wiht the lightly roasted slivered almonds scattered on top, with creme fraiche or ice cream for accompaniment.