Maple Pear Upside Down Cake

Directions

1Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Butter the bottom and side of a 9-inch round springform cake pan lined with parchment paper. Toss the pear wedges with 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large bowl; set aside. Bring ¾ cup granulated sugar, the water and remaining 1 teaspoon lemon juice to a simmer in a medium skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer, without stirring, until amber, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons butter. Pour the caramel into the prepared pan, tilting to coat the bottom. Let cool, then top with the pears in a circular pattern.

2Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cardamom in a medium bowl. Combine the milk, sour cream and maple extract in a large liquid measuring cup and stir until smooth. Beat the remaining 1 stick butter, ½ cup granulated sugar and the maple sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. 

3Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat until thickened, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk mixture in two batches. The batter may look slightly curdled; keep beating and it will smooth out. 

4Pour the batter into the pan over the pears and smooth the top. Bake until the top of the cake is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 20 minutes in the pan. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then invert onto a serving plate and let cool completely.

Maple Sugar

12 cups maple syrup

2Place maple syrup in a heavy-bottomed deep pan, such an enameled dutch oven.

3Bring the syrup to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until it reaches 265° F (or 45° to 50° F above the boiling temperature of water at your elevation).

4Turn off heat, and either begin stirring immediately or wait until the syrup cools to around 200° F. Either way, stir by hand or using a stand mixer until the thickened syrup forms into granules.

5 or

6Simply pour the hot syrup onto a Silpat (silicone baking mat), let it cool and harden and then put it in a food processor and grind it until it’s fine sugar.

7Sift the sugar through a fine-mesh strainer for more even maple sugar granules.

8Store the maple sugar in a tightly sealed jar at room temperature and it should keep indefinitely.

Note

1Thought the syrup cooks down considerably as water evaporates, the resulting sugar fluffs back up in volume. If you're trying to make 1 cup of finished sugar, start with one cup of maple syrup. One pint of syrup yields about 1 pint of maple sugar, or about 1 pound of maple sugar.