INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tbsp.
butter, melted
- 3 tbsp
light brown sugar
- 3 ripe
but firm Bosc or Bartlett pears
- 1 tbsp
lemon juice
- 1½
cups sifted cake flour
- ½
tsp. baking powder
- ½
tsp. baking soda
- ½
tsp. salt
- 2 tsp.
ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp.
ground ginger
- ½
tsp. ground allspice
- ½
tsp. ground nutmeg
- ½
cup sugar
- 2 large
egg whites
- ½
cup skim-milk buttermilk
- ½
cup molasses
- 2 tbsp
vegetable oil
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METHOD:
- Position
rack in the lower part of the oven, preheat to 375 degrees.
Coat the inside of an 8-inch square baking pan with non stick
cooking spray or similar.
- Pour
butter into prepared baking dish and tilt to coat the bottom
evenly. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter.
- Peel,
halve and core pears. Brush with lemon juice. Put each pear
half into 1/8-inch thick slices.
- Arrange
them in the bottom of the pan. Bake, uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile,
sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt,
cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg into a bowl. Stir in
the sugar.
- In a
large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, the buttermilk,
molasses and oil. Add the flour mixture to the egg white mixture
and stir with a spatula until just blended.
- When
the pears have baked for 15 minutes, pour the batter evenly
over the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester
inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Loosen
edges. Invert a serving platter over the pan and grasping
firmly with hands protected with oven mitts, quickly turn
the cake and the platter over. Remove the baking dish. Remove
any pear slices that have adhered to the pan and replace them
on top of the cake.
- Let
cool for at least 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve.
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