Since I was born and raised in Europe, I did not grow up having Thanksgiving. But after I moved to the US, I have been fortunate enough to have celebrated it for the last 9 years of my life! I have come to truly relish this holiday for many reasons: the food, the road trips, and most importantly, the friends and family. I have yet to host a Thanksgiving dinner, but I still hold on to a tradition of mine, even as a guest: I always bake something I have never baked before to share with my hosts. This year, I picked this lovely cake from the November issue of Family Circle. Hope you enjoy!
Pear Upside-Down Cake
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add cold butter to a 10" springform pan. Heat in oven until melted, about 3 minutes. Swirl pan to coat bottom with melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.
Fan slices of pear over sugar overlapping slightly and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, baking powder, salt, vanilla and cardamom. Beat softened butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat 2 minutes, until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
On low speed, beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Spoon batter over pears and spread to pan edge with a spatula. Wrap bottom of pan with foil and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until you can insert and remove a toothpick clean.
Cool for 5 minutes and invert cake onto a plate. Wait to cool and serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cram, if desired.
Makes 16 servings. Prep time: 30 minutes. Bake time: 55-60 minutes.
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.