Upside-Down Pear Cake with Cardamom and Honey

For the honey syrup:
- 1/2c honey
- 1/4c water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the cake:
- 1/2c honey
- 3 pears, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 3 eggs
- 1 stick of butter (original recipe calls for 1.5 sticks, and that’s what I used; but I think you could get by with less)
- 3/4c all-purpose white flour
- 1/2c whole wheat pastry flour (substitute with white pastry or regular all-purpose flour if you need to)
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)
Special equipment:
- 8″ Springform cake pan (I use the one in this set).

Begin by making the honey syrup. Combine the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly while you make the cake batter.
Before continuing, peel, core, and slice the pears so they will be ready when the batter is.
Line your 8″ springform pan with parchment paper, and fill with the pears. Set aside while you make the batter.
Preaheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To start the cake batter, beat the eggs along with the honey on medium for 3 minutes.
Melt the butter and add to the honey/egg mixture
Measure out the flour. 150g of flour total if you are using a scale; 1 1/4c total flour if not. Add in the cardamom and salt, and stir until combined.
Add the flour to the batter mixture and mix until combined (1 minute).
Now, drizzle the honey syrup over the pears in the prepared springform pan, and add the batter on top.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, or until you can see the top is a lovely golden brown.
Let the cake cool for about 5 minutes. Place a large plate or pie plate upside-down on top of the springform pan, and flip the cake onto the plate. Peel back the parchment paper and revel in the beauty of your creation!