What a bounty!!

Last night, friends Abby and Courtney held a tremendous Columbus Day pot-roast-pot-luck.  We ate with much merriment, and outside the universe pelted hail on Brooklyn, as if to urge us to have one more glass of wine.  I brought some food I'd been dying to make... first, the cake. 

Seckel Pear Upside Down Cake

A lot of research went into this cake, and I am thrilled with the results.  

Cake mixture itself modeled after Food & Wine's Apple Cake. 

Step 1:

15-20 seckel pears (those tiny little guys)

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar (either will do)

1/2 stick of butter

(If butter is unsalted, 1/8 tsp salt)

Cooking Oil Spray

Spring Form Pan

Step 2:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

1.  Halve the seckel pears, scraping out the core carefully.  Set aside.

2.  Combine the 1/2 stick of butter, softened, with the brown sugar and possibly salt to make a paste.  Spray the pan generously with oil, and spread paste on the base.  Arrange the pears in the paste in your chosen design.  If you still have pears, line the side of the pan with them. 

3.  Combine the dry ingredients of step two, and  in a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients.  Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Stir with a fork until most lumps have gone. 

4.  Bake at 350-375 for about an hour and a half.  This really depends on your oven and the fruit's moisture, so start low, monitor, and adjust as necessary. 

5. Enjoy as demonstrated: