Upside Down Pear Chocolate Skillet Cake

Organic Bartlett Pears and of course there's a story to go with this cake.  I spent a summer when I was 17 living at my cousin's ranch in Lake County.  I worked in a pear packing shed during the short season when the pears are harvested. I remember the nights were hot and the days long(and hot) but I earned more money that summer than I had ever seen $750 dollars.  I worked 12 hour days standing and sorting pears on a long conveyor belt, good ones to packing, crummy ones to canning and the worst  to baby food.  I'm thankful to have had that experience when I was 17, it gave me a good perspective on the importance of a college or at least a beauty  school education.  I lived with my eccentric cousin who was a home economics teacher in Kelseyville.   I remember  swatting away bees to pick wild blackberries from a giant bush for a pie and sharing the house with a baby fawn.  My cousin rescued the fawn because it's mother had been killed and brought it home.  I can still hear the sound of it's tiny hooves running around on the hardwood floor in the old ranch house.  We also had a problem with the well and had baby frogs coming out of the tap in the kitchen,  swimming in the toilet and  jumping in the bathtub.  Every year when the local pears are in the market I remember my summer in Lake County and look for a new pear recipe that doesn't include red hots, inside joke!

Ingredients and Directions For Upside Down Pear Chocolate Skillet Cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F

This recipe is adapted from 'Rustic Fruit Desserts' by Corey Schreiber and Julie Richardson

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, put the skillet in the oven to melt the butter, swirling to cover the bottom 


For the Fruit Topping

1 cup  sugar
1/4 cup water
3 firm but ripe Bartlett pears, cored, peeled and cut into slices

For the Cake

1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces  bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Start the fruit topping by putting the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil, give it a few stirs to mix together the sugar and water.  Continue boiling and slowly swirling the pan as needed to cook the caramel evenly until the color becomes a dark amber color.  Carefully pour the caramel into the prepared skillet and allow to harden.  The pan will be very hot so be careful.  Arrange the pear slices around the skillet, filling in the center with a few smaller slices.


Time to make the cake.  Place the butter and chocolate in a small heavy saucepan and melt over a low heat, stir occasionally.  Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.  Transfer the chocolate mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sugar.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping down at least once.  Add the eggs one at a time and stir in the vanilla.  Stir in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour.
Don't forget to scrape down the sides a few times during this process.  Pour the batter over the pears in the prepared skillet, smooth down and bake for 40-45 minutes or until cakes bounces back when gently touched.  Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes, then flip cake over on to cake plate.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.