Warm Upside-Down Pear Cake With Tangerine Custard Sauce

Recipe Ingredients

		Tangerine Custard Sauce
1/4 cup	49g / 1.7oz	Sugar
2		Egg yolks
1 cup	237ml	Half-and-half
		Grated zest of 2 tangerines
1 teaspoon	5ml	Tangerine juice
1 teaspoon	5ml	Vanilla extract
		Topping
3/4 cup	148g / 5.2oz	Sugar
1/4 cup	59ml	Water
3 cups	711ml	Bartlett or Bosc pears - peeled, cored, (large)
		And cut in thin slices
		Cake
1 1/2 cups	93g / 3.3oz	Flour
1 tablespoon	15ml	Baking powder
1 teaspoon	5ml	Salt
1/2 cup	99g / 3.5oz	Butter - plus
1 tablespoon	15ml	Butter - room temperature
1 cup	198g / 7oz	Sugar - plus
2 tablespoons	30ml	Sugar
2		Eggs
2 teaspoons	10ml	Grated tangerine zest
3 tablespoons	45ml	Milk
3 tablespoons	45ml	Whipping cream
3 tablespoons	45ml	Cognac
1/2 cup	73g / 2.6oz	Chopped pecans

Recipe Instructions

For the Tangerine Custard Sauce: Whisk the sugar and egg yolks together in a bowl. In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the half-and-half and zest just to a simmer; do not boil. Gradually whisk half the hot mixture into the yolk mixture. Return to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not boil. Strain the custard into a clean bowl. Whisk in the tangerine juice and vanilla. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

For the Topping: Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Stir the sugar and water in a nonstick skillet over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and simmer, without stirring, until the color is a deep amber, about 10 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally and brushing down the sides with a wet pastry brush. Pour the caramel into the prepared pan, tilting to coat the bottom. Overlap the pears in concentric circles on top of the caramel.

For the Cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and zest and beat until light and fluffy. Combine the milk, cream and Cognac in a small bowl.

Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, stirring to blend after each addition. Stir in the nuts. Pour the batter over the pears.

Bake until the cake is golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, place a platter over the cake, and invert. Let rest for 1 minute, then remove the pan.

Serve the cake warm, with the cold Tangerine Custard Sauce on the side.

This recipe yields 8 to 10 servings.

Each of 10 servings: 468 calories; 509 mg sodium; 126 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 65 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 2.07 grams fiber.

Source:
The Los Angeles Times, 11-07-2001

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