Honey-Glazed Pear-Up-Side-Down Cake - Nytimes

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup honey (chestnut or other intense kind)
• 3 large bosc pears, peeled, quartered lengthwise and cored
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lemon, zest of, finely grated
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. 2

   In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet (not nonstick), simmer honey until it begins to caramelize and darken in colour, do not let honey burn; if it starts to smell burned, turn off heat.

3. 3

   Arrange pears, close together and cut-side down, in a circular pattern in skillet, stem ends pointing toward center. Simmer over medium heat, turning them from one side to the other until they turn golden, about 10 minutes.

4. 4

   Flip pears over their curved side and scatter with thyme sprigs if using. Transfer skillet to oven and roast, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.

5. 5

   Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, fold in flour and salt, stir in 1/2 cup of butter.

6. 6

   When pears are soft, remove skillet from oven, discard thyme sprigs and brush edges of pears with the remaining 1 tbsp of butter. Pour batter over pears, spread almonds over batter and bake for about 25-30 minutes until done. Let cake cool for 30 minutes in the skillet before running an offset spatula or a thin sparing knife along edge of pan to loosen cake. Carefully invert cake into a platter. Serve warm or cooled.