Topping:
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
2 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled & sliced thin
Cake:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 rounded tsp ginger*
1 rounded tsp cinnamon*
1/2 tsp allspice*
1/2 tsp nutmeg*
*or substitute 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup applesauce
1 peeled & thinly diced Bartlett pear
Lightly butter or use cooking spray to grease your 9 inch cheesecake pan. If yours has a dimpled bottom like mine, you can add one or two pieces of parchment paper to the bottom to avoid a dimpled pear top. Make thin slices with your 1/4 cup of cold butter, and layer on the bottom of your pan. Sprinkle with a mixture of 1 tbsp brown sugar and 3/4 tsp cinnamon.
Layer with thin slices from 2 Bartlett pears.
For the cake:
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices in bowl. In second bowl, mix 1/2 cup softened butter, brown sugar, eggs, applesauce, and molasses in that order. Mix flour mixture into moist egg & sugar mixture with hand mixer until blended. Once blended, add diced pear and gently fold in with spatula. Pour cake mixture over layered pears in cheesecake pan.
Bake at 350° in regular oven or at 325° in convection oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 30 minutes. Carefully remove from pan and turn upside down onto cake plate.
Note: Place a pan on the oven rack under the cake to catch the butter drips. I baked this recipe before it was updated and ended up having to run the exhaust fan while baking and cleaning the oven afterward. You might also try baking in a non-springform pan.
This recipe was found on an absolutely amazing blog whose author overflows with creativity! Centsational Girl will inspire you with every post!
Janice says
Sounds perfect for this time of year – here in Scotland too! I'll be making a note of this recipe for my file of many recipes too! Off to visit that blog too.