Ringtons Recipes: PEAR & CARDAMOM UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Ingredients:

For the cake –

150g caster sugar

200g unsalted butter

4 eggs

150g self-raising flour

50g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

Zest of 2 oranges

For the caramel –

50g unsalted butter

100g light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cardamom

4 pears, peeled cored and halved

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 23cm round spring form tin. To make the caramel, in a saucepan melt together butter, brown sugar and cardamom, stirring continuously until butter is melted and sugar has dissolved. Allow to thicken whilst stirring for 2 minutes before spreading the caramel into the prepared tin. Top with pears, cut side facing down.

2. To make the cake, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition. Stir in flour, ground almonds and orange zest. Spoon mixture over pears and bake for 50-55 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.