I had such a wonderful time participating in the Seasoned Eatings event which was the inspiration and brainchild of Lindsay at Country Girl City Living and Katie at Thyme for Cooking . We had to choose a spice that our area of the world was known for; or a spice that was something that reflected our way of cooking. I received a beautiful box (it even smelled good) and some Roof Top Honey from the bee hives of David Graves on the rooftops of New York City from Lindsay one of our illustrious hosts. It states in the article that the honey tastes of laurel trees. He has 12 rooftops in different areas of New York City that are home for his bees. There is a little more about the event here or here .It was such a treat to recieve a "pressie" from another country at Christmas time. It put me right into the Christmas spirit. As part of the package you also recieved a recipe using the spice or flavouring that you recieved. I have made my Honey-Glazed Pear Upside Down Cake and it was delicious for my breakfast...believe me. Tender and light. The recipe Lindsay added is a legend at the Gramercy Tavern and she also read that it was a star in the restaurants cookbook.
With the overabundance of sweets over the holiday season it took me more than my alotted time to post the recipe, so I must apologize for that. My daughter and I enjoyed our treat immensely this morning. Thank you ladies for this wonderful event and I'll look forward to it annually!!!
**Honey-Glazed Pear Upside Down Cake**
**Honey-Glazed Pear Upside Down Cake**
1/4 cup chestnut or other intense honey
4 small or 3 large Bosc pears, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cored
3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional) -I ended up not using it because any grocery store I went to was out
1 cup sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup sliced almonds
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Preheat oven to 350F. In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick) simmer honey until it begins to reduce, caramelize and darken in colour, 6 - 10 minutes. Do not let honey burn; if it starts to smell burnt, turn off heat.
Arrange pears, close together and cut-side down, in a circular pattern in skillet, stem ends pointing toward centre. Simmer over medium heat, turning them from one cut side to the other, until they begin to turn golden, about 10 minutes.
Flip pears over to their curved side and scatter with thyme sprigs if using. Transfer skillet to oven and roast, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Fold in flour and salt; stir in 1/2 cup butter.
When pears are soft, remove skillet from oven, discard thyme sprigs and brush edges of pears with remaining 1 T melted butter. Pour batter on roasted pears and scatter almonds over batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, 25 - 30 minutes. Let cake cool for 30 minutes in pan. Run an offset spatula along edges of pan to loosen cake, carefully invert cake onto a serving platter. Serve warm or cooled.
Serves 6 - 8
