Once again, I stumbled on Linda Lomelino’s amazing cooking blog and couldn’t resist trying my version of the apple upside down cake. I chose pears because we had some from our courtyard and I tried a gluten free (not vegan though) version:

This is basically how it looked like before cooking. It was a bit harder to do than I thought, maybe because it was pears and not apples… but It was really delicious nonetheless.

It’s perfect for the season (autumn - winter) with the dash of cinnamon and cardamom, warms you up a bit like a carrot cake…

Here is my take on the recipe with gluten free flour and pears:

INGREDIENTS

TOPPING

75 g salted butter
125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp, tightly packed) light muscovado sugar
1/8 tsp. flaky salt
2 firm pears

CAKE

150 g buckwheat flour
50g Almond flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. flaky salt
125 g softened salted butter
180 g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
150 ml thick yoghurt (I used goat yogurt), at room temp.
zest from 1 orange

INSTRUCTIONS: this is basically a copy and paste from Linda’s website:

TOPPING

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Butter a 22 cm (9 inch) springform pan and cover the bottom of the pan with a round piece of baking paper.
Slice the pears thinly.
Melt 75 g butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir in the muscovado sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until combined and sugar is melted. Stir in the salt. Don’t worry if the mixture feels gritty, it will disappear once the cake is baked. Spread the caramel over the baking paper in the bottom of the pan. Place the apple slices in a pattern on top of the caramel.

CAKE

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the dry ingredients in three additions, and the yoghurt in two, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Add orange zest and beat until just smooth.
Gently spoon the batter into the prepared pan, over the caramel and apples. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Make sure to place a baking sheet covered with baking paper on the lowest rack of the oven to catch any drips from the cake (it will most likely leak a little bit). Bake the cake on the middle rack, for 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Start checking around 35 minutes, as you might need to cover the cake with foil if it’s browning too much.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a large serving platter or plate to put the cake on. After 5 minutes, carefully remove the sides of the springform pan (they’re hot!). Invert the cake onto the platter and peel off the piece of baking paper. Let cool a bit before serving with yoghurt whipped cream. The cake can be stored covered at room temperature for a while, but if stored longer than a day, it should be refrigerated.