Name: Upside-Down Pear Chocolate Cake
Yield: Serves 12 to 15
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, for pan; 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar; 1/4 cup water; 3 firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored, and each cut into 12 slices (1 pound prepped); 1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter; 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped; 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour; 1/3 cup (1 ounce) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder; 3/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt; 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1/2 cup whole milk; Chantilly cream or Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, for serving (optional)

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Upside-Down Pear Chocolate CakeSara Remington

Chocolate and pears make an excellent combination. Here, bittersweet chocolate and sweet pears meld together to form the perfect balance. For this recipe, you can either take a rustic approach and toss the pears haphazardly into the pan or opt for a more elegant look by arranging the pears in concentric circles. Look for a good dark chocolate, which is not the same as unsweetened chocolate. Also, there are two kinds of unsweetened cocoa on the market; be sure to use unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa, not natural cocoa. When combined with baking soda, natural cocoa can impart a bitter taste to baked goods and cause them to rise too much.

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