Coriander Brown Sugar Pear Upside-down Cake

🧂 Ingredients

• 4-6 medium ripe pears

  (substitute canned pears in juice or light syrup)
• ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup softened butter (one stick)

  4 oz (plus additional tablespoon to butter the pan)
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 3 ½ tsp baking powder

  sifted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1⅓ cup whole milk
• 3 large eggs

  room temperature
• 2 tbsp canola oil, melted butter or coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• 1 Generously butter a 12" springform pan, and sprinkle the half cup of brown sugar
  evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place the springform pan on a baking sheet,
  or line the outside of the bottom of the pan with foil to catch any drips so
  they don't burn on the bottom of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 ℉.
• 2 Peel, core, and halve the pears. Cut one of the pears into 8 slices and arrange
  in a star pattern in the center of the pan, and cut the rest of the pears into
  quarters or thirds (depending on the size) and arrange them in a second
  concentric ring around the center pears.
• 3 You can also slice them more thinly for a more delicate and elegant cake with
  less defined chunks of fruit. If you like, you can sprinkle the pears lightly
  with cinnamon or a grating of nutmeg.
• 4 In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle
  attachment, cream the softened butter together with the coriander. Whip until
  the butter is fluffy and the spice is evenly distributed.
• 5 In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (sift any that are
  lumpy through a wire sieve after measuring).
• 6 In a large measuring cup or small mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs,
  oil or melted butter and the vanilla.
• 7 Add the dry and wet ingredients to the creamed butter mixture by thirds (one
  third of the dry ingredients, mix a few turns, one third of the wet ingredients,
  mix a few turns, and repeat).
• 8 Don't wait for the mixture to be fully incorporated between additions, just
  alternate so that there aren't clumps and the batter forms a nice emulsion. Mix
  just enough to combine all ingredients into a uniform batter.
• 9 Pour the cake batter over the prepared pears in the pan and place the sheet tray
  into the preheated oven.
• 10 Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and a skewer or cake
  tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pan gently from the
  oven and let cool for at least 20-25 minutes in the pan.
• 11 Gently unlock the pan and remove the ring, then place a serving platter over the
  cake and carefully invert it- be careful not to burn yourself since the hot
  sugar will be sticky- let it cool longer if needed before flipping the cake.
• 12 If you have a thin metal flat spatula (or cheesemaking curd knife) you can run
  that along the bottom of the pan if the cake is sticking to free cake from the
  bottom of the pan after flipping it over, though it should separate easily.
• 13 Slice and serve warm, or keep cool and serve within 3 days.

Nutrition Info