Pear Cake

Today was cold and rainy, so I didn't want to go anywhere. I also happened to have too many ripe pears, more than I can eat on my own. My solution to these problems? Pear Upside-Down Cake! It turned out very delicious! The only things I would change for next time - make it less sweet (less sugar in cake and topping) and maybe add a spice, like nutmeg. I altered a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake from "The Cake Bible". Here is my version.

Pear Upside-Down Cake

4 pears, sliced
1/2 c. walnuts
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar (next time I will use less)

3 egg yolks
1/4 c. sour cream
1/3 c. plain yogurt (or sour cream, I ran out so I used yogurt)
2 tsp. vanilla
9 Tbs. butter
1 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. sugar (next time I will use 1/4-1/3 c.)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 (mine was 300 using convection oven).

Add 4 Tbs. butter to a 10" cake pan or cast iron skillet and place in oven to melt butter. Add brown sugar and spread evenly over pan. Sprinkle walnuts over brown sugar/butter mixture. Lay sliced pears decoratively over top of walnuts. Set aside. Lightly mix egg yolks, sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, mix together white flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Add 9 Tbs. butter (make sure it is very soft) and yogurt. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened. Mix on medium speed another 1-2 min. Mixture will be very thick. Add the egg yolk mixture (in three batches), mix on medium speed. Dollop batter over pears, spread to cover all fruit. Bake for 30 min, or until top is browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Use a metal scraper to loosen cake from sides of pan. Immediately invert cake, wait a bit to let all the juices out, and then remove pan.