Name: Pumpkin and pear upside-down cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing; 75g light muscovado sugar; 2 ripe but firm Conference pears, peeled, cored and each cut into 8 slices; 150g unsalted butter, softened; 125g light muscovado sugar; 3 large eggs; 200g self-raising flour; ½ tsp baking powder; 2 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg; 300g peeled and deseeded pumpkin, coarsely grated; Crème fraîche (optional); A 23cm round cake tin with a fixed base

Pumpkin and pear upside-down cake

This pumpkin upside-down cake recipe bakes a gently spiced sponge over sticky muscovado pears, a warm late September pudding to share after Sunday lunch.

Vegetarian

Serves8

Hands-on30 min

Oven50 min

DifficultyEasy

Turned out of the tin while still warm, the cake reveals a ring of glossy, amber pears soaked in buttery caramel. Grated pumpkin disappears into the crumb, keeping it soft and moist in the way carrot does in a carrot cake, so this is a good home for a vegetable many cooks only think of as savoury.

Why it’s so good: Ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg warm the sponge, while the dark muscovado caramel seeps into the fruit as it bakes.

Make it easy: Grate the pumpkin in a food processor with the grating disc to save time and knuckles.

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Grease the sides of the tin with a little butter and line the base with baking paper.

Melt the 50g butter and 75g muscovado sugar in a small pan over a low heat, stirring for 3-4 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the mixture bubbles. Pour into the tin and spread over the base. Arrange the pear slices on top in an overlapping circle.

Beat the softened butter and 125g muscovado sugar in a large bowl with an electric whisk for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle.

Sift in the remaining flour with the baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg, and fold in gently. Squeeze the grated pumpkin in a clean tea towel to remove excess liquid, then fold it through the batter.

Spoon the batter over the pears and carefully spread it level without moving the fruit. Bake for 45-50 minutes until risen and golden, and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil after 35 minutes if it is browning too quickly.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge, put a serving plate on top and turn the cake out in one confident movement. Scrape any caramel left in the tin back over the pears. Serve warm or at room temperature, with crème fraîche if you like.

Per serving (Serves 8)

Calories

430kcals

Fat

23g (14g saturated)

Protein

Carbohydrates

48g (28g sugars)

Fibre

Salt

0.4g

Quick wins, tips & make ahead

Use a tin with a fixed base rather than a loose-bottomed one, as the runny caramel can leak out during baking.

Storage: the cake keeps, covered, in a cool place for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Warm slices briefly in a low oven before serving.

Swaps: butternut squash can replace the pumpkin, and eating apples such as Cox work in place of the pears.

Pumpkin varies in how much water it holds, so squeezing it well keeps the sponge light rather than heavy.