Chocolate Five Spice & Pear Upside Down Cake

There’s something I just love about five spice! Maybe it’s the scent that fills your kitchen as it bakes in the oven! It pairs perfectly in this cake with the chocolate & pears. After baking this cake I like to apply a generous amount of apricot glaze to the surface to give it that super shiny appearance, and finish with a few gold flakes! When baking this cake just be sure to place your tin on a tray as you can lose some caramel while baking. This cake is a perfect addition to your cup of coffee!

Ingredients:

For the Pears

3 pears

50g unsalted butter

100g light Muscovado sugar

For the cake mix

200g unsalted butter

200g light Muscovado sugar

4 eggs

115g dark chocolate, melted

170g self raising flour

30g unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tsp five spice

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method:

Preheat oven to 180℃ ( 160℃ fan), and grease and line an 8” springform tin.

Start by preparing the pears.  Peel and core them and slice them into 1/2 cm thick slices.

In a pan combine together the 50g butter and 100g of sugar, and gently heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the mixture into the base of your tin and arrange the pears around the tin on the surface of the caramel, overlapping them slightly.  Set aside while you make the cake mix.

Begin with the sponge mixture.  Cream together the butter and sugar until pale.

Add the eggs one by one and mix until incorporated.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and five spice into the mixture, and fold in gently.

Finally fold the melted chocolate into the mixture, and carefully pour the mix into the tin on top of the pears.

Bake in the preheated oven for around 45mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middles comes out clean.

Leave to cool slightly in the tin, then turn out while the caramel is still slightly warm.

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Remember to tag me in your bakes on Instagram! - @cameronolamb