Caramelized pear and almond cake

This recipe came during winter when pears were super cheap.  I ended up with way too many that were ripe all at the same time and I decided to hunt down a good pear cake recipe.  I couldn’t find too many that inspired me and the winter feel.  I merged a couple of recipes of apple tea cakes, and pear upside down cakes and this is what I came up with. 

It works fabulously and has been devoured by my friends and family. You could substitute pears for apples, nectarines and peaches or even use the tin variety. I find that it is best with pears as they hold there shape and don’t become too soggy. The almond meal makes the cake light and cuts through the sweetness of the caramel. 

Ingredients:
180 g butter
⅔ cup brown sugar
2 large pears, peeled and cut into fine pieces
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup almond meal
1 cup self-raising flour
⅓ cup milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius and grease and line a 23cm springformcake tin.
Melt 60g of the butter in a saucepan and stir in brown sugar.
Stir over low heat until it is well combined.
Pour into base of baking tin. 

Arrange pears, in a fan like pattern around tin.

Cream butter and sugar, then add the rest of the ingredients.

Mix until combined.

Pour mixture over pears and bake for 50-60 minutes.
Allow to sit for 10 minutes before turning out.

Tip:

This cake can be baked the day before it is required but I would leave it in the tin until ready to serve. 
Ensure you use grease proof paper so that the caramel stays in the tin.
Also you can double the recipe of caramel which also works well J for those that enjoy life to its sweetest potential.