Pear Upside-Down Cake

Adapted from Vogue Entertaining + Travel, by Joan Campbell


Base
125g butter
1.5 cups brown sugar
4 pears, peeled, cored and cut into quarters

Cake
125g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celcius. Grease a 24-26 cm non-stick cake tin.
To make the base, warm butter and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring till the butter has melted and sugar dissolved.
Increase the heat, add pears and cook, turning occassionally for 3 to 4 minutes or until tender.
Pour the syrup into the cake tin and arrange the pears in them.
To make the cake mixture, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with electric beaters till well-combined.
Spoon mixture over the pears and bake on the centre shelf of an oven for about an hour, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Invert onto a plate and serve warm.