Decorated with fall edible garden flowers and served with delicious lightly sweetened whipped cream, you don’t need to be hungry for this one. Our Pear Applesauce Upside-Down Cake is just the dessert for a fall night.
This fall flavored cake is a hit at our house
Flavored with all the fall flavors of pears, apples, spices, molasses, and brown sugar. Sweetened with sweet thinly sliced pears caramelized at the bottom of the cake. Brown sugar and spices sprinkled on them, before adding the cake batter for this Pear Applesauce Upside-Down Cake.
Fall spice cakes are some of my favorites. They are easy to make, low in fat and sugar often. We’re using already fruit sweet applesauce in this cake. Also, we’re usng some of my favorite spices!
A few of my favorite gluten free ingredients
I love to stock my pantry with gluten free spices and extracts or flavorings. The entire Schilling McCormick brand is gluten free, which makes it very easy when you need to have gluten free spices. I know many of you don’t need to be that extreme. However, some may even want a certified brand of spices or flavorings. Spicely Organics is one of the brands that is certified gluten free. They have lots of spices that other company don’t always have as well. You can find them in many stores or check them out online, if you’re interested.
This cake needs very little decoration ~ the pears are so pretty
Coupled with the fall flavors, it’s nice to decorate with a few fall flowers (edible and also organic, if possible). You can often find these packs of edible flowers at your local supermarket in the produce section. I love to grow them as well in pots on my deck for easy access. But in the winter I head to the market, where these come grown in greenhouses or in warmer climates.
As well as decorating with a few flowers, it’s a perfect compliment to pipe or add a spoon of pillowy whipped cream to the center or to each slice. Whipped cream is such a nice compliment to the spice flavors.
Even though this cake has spice and fall flavors, it’s also delicious even in spring or summer! You can decorate with edible spring flowers. You could even try some colorful gluten free sprinkles! I just made this cake and here it is late spring! There’s something about spice flavors that are so comforting, even in the spring or summer!
This cake comes together quickly
Whether you make this cake in the morning or the evening, it’s an easy cake to put together. Bake in the morning and serve for dessert after dinner. Or bake just before making dinner to serve it while still slightly warm.
Slicing the pears thinly is probably one of the most time consuming parts to making this cake. It makes it look so pretty when you make a design on the cake, but it’s definitely not necessary. It tastes delicious no matter how the pears are displayed. You can always sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve. As well as choosing to top with whipped cream, ice cream is another great choice. Try serving with Perfectly Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (Gluten Free).
Enjoy this low sugar, low fat, and simple and beautiful cake!
~Laura
Pear Applesauce Upside-Down Cake (Gluten Free)
Equipment
- 2 6" springform cake pans or 1, 10" cake pan
- parchment rounds
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Bob's Red Mill Potato Starch, gf
- ½ cup Bob's Red Mill Organic White Rice Flour, gf or Organic Brown Rice Flour, gf
- ½ cup Kirkland Superfine Almond Flour, gf
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, gf
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger, gf
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves, gf
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, gf
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder, gf
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup molasses, gf
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup plus 1 tbsp butter, softened or dairy free butter substitute, gf
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1-1½ teaspoons cassava flour or rice flour, gf to flour the pans
- ⅛ cup brown sugar sprinkle in the pans
- nutmeg and cloves sprinkle in the pans
- 1 large bosc or other pear, cored and thinly sliced or 2-3 small pears
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line the cake pan or two 6" cake pans with parchment rounds that fit the bottom of the pan. Spray with baking spray or oil. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of cassava (or rice flour) into the pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar and a few pinches of nutmeg and cloves.
- Add the pears in a fanned flower like round in the pan. Set aside.
- Sift the flours together with the xanthan, spices, baking powder, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter and honey and mix until combined. Add the molasses, eggs, oil, and applesauce and mix. slowly add the dry ingredients.
- Spoon the batter into the pans (or larger cake pan) and smooth. Bake for 20-22 minutes for the 6" cakes and 25-32 for the larger cake.
- Remove to cool when a toothpick comes out clean. Check several times near the end of baking time. Set on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the springform and invert. Remove the parchment. Serve warm or cool with whipped cream or ice cream. Add a few edible flowers to top before serving if desired.
