Inspired by my pineapple upside down cake and apple upside down cake recipes, this boldly spiced upside down pear gingerbread cake combines your favorite holiday spices with juicy pears, brown sugar caramel sauce, and whipped cream. Serving warm brings out the flavors AND makes this a quick holiday dessert.
I’m convinced you need no other cake this holiday season. Although my cranberry pecan Christmas cake would be a close second.
Today I’m serving you boldly spiced gingerbread with buttery brown sugar soaked pears and a dollop of fresh whipped cream. There’s plenty of ginger, plenty of cinnamon, plenty of pears, and absolutely zero apologies. Ready to indulge?
I have the pleasure of working with Harry & David on two recipes this holiday season—both highlighting their hand-picked Royal Riviera pears. These buttery pears steal the attention no matter which dish, dessert, or spread they’re in. Cranberry Pear Crumble Pie, shared just the other week, is no exception. The cranberries and brown sugar crumble are both fantastic, but the high quality pears win 1st place. Their texture is unbeatable and dare I say that pie beats all other Thanksgiving pies!! Even you, pumpkin pie.
How to Make Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
I’m especially excited about this recipe because I used my gingerbread cake as the base, both a personal and reader favorite.
There are 3 parts to Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake.
- Pears
- Brown sugar caramel sauce
- Gingerbread
Peel and slice your pears, then tightly line them up in your cake pan. Don’t skimp on pears here—they’ll cook down, so the more the better. We’ll layer a brown sugar butter sauce on top. Melt butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together on the stove, then pour all over the pears. This will be the TOP of your upside-down pear gingerbread; consider it the cake’s built-in frosting. 😉
The gingerbread cake is soft, moist, and robust—the virtual opposite of any dry or bland gingerbreads you’ve had before. It’s made with the best ingredients in your pantry: molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cloves, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. If this cake doesn’t scream HAPPY HOLIDAYS, I’m not sure what does.
A Sticky Situation!
One special note about this gingerbread batter: hot water. It’s an odd ingredient in cake, but there’s a reason for its addition. Molasses is very thick and very sticky. Its consistency makes it very difficult to seamlessly mix into cake batter. When mixed with hot water, its viscous consistency loosens. Problem solved, cake success.
Spread the gingerbread batter over the pear topping.
You can bake this gingerbread in a variety of cake pans. My directions for varying pan sizes are in the recipe notes below. Whichever size pan you use, the trick to upside-down cakes is to let them cool for only 10-20 minutes before inverting over. Once flipped over, lift the baking pan straight up to reveal all those luscious pears. A topping is so good, it glistens!
I recommend serving this cake warm. Serving warm not only brings out the flavor, but it cuts down on the total time this dessert takes. QUICK is always welcomed when you’re entertaining. Compared to most holiday desserts, this is literally a cake-walk.
Serve the upside down gingerbread cake with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Cool and creamy always balances warm and spiced. Plus, you can’t have holiday dessert without an accessory on top. 🙂
Pear Gingerbread in summary:
- Pineapple upside down cake but with holiday flavor
- Spicy, moist, flavorful gingerbread
- Brown sugar caramel sauce
- QUICK cake compared to others
- Whipped cream!!
If you love pear recipes, be sure to try my easy maple baked pears and pear tarte tatin, too.
More Gingerbread Recipes
Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 9-12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This boldly spiced upside-down pear gingerbread cake combines your favorite holiday spices with juicy pears, brown sugar caramel sauce, and cool whipped cream. Serving warm brings out the flavors AND makes this a quick holiday dessert.
Ingredients
Topping
- 4 firm medium pears
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Gingerbread Cake
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (180ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 3/4 cup (180ml) hot water (about 100°F (38°C))
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- for serving: whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Prepare the topping: Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Peel, core, and slice pears into 1/8-inch thick slices. Tightly layer the pears in the prepared pan, as pictured above. Set aside.
- Whisking constantly, heat the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, vigorously whisk to ensure the butter is not separating from the brown sugar. Once it comes together (it will, keep whisking!), pour evenly over pears.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together. Set aside. Whisk the molasses and hot water together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Turn the mixer off and add the dry ingredients and molasses/water. Turn the mixer on low and mix just until combined. The batter will be a little thick.
- Carefully pour/spread batter on top of pears. Bake for around 35-45 minutes or until the cake is baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If you notice the edges or top browning too quickly, tent the cake with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then invert cake onto a serving plate. Cake will be moist! Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Prepare the topping in the baking pan, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. It’s best to serve this cake right away; not ideal for making ahead.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Square Baking Pan | Vegetable Peeler | Saucepan | Whisk | Glass Mixing Bowls | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula
- Variety of Cake Sizes: Use a 9-inch square pan, 9-inch deep dish round pan (2 inch depth at least), 9-inch or 10-inch cast iron skillet, or an 11×7-inch baking pan. Bake time is around the same. Do not use a springform pan—topping will leak.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Unusually good! Thanks so much
SO tasty and easy to whip together! Made this for Christmas dessert – it came together quickly and made quite the impression, everyone was raving about the flavors. Definitely recommend serving warm – we actually had to serve hot as some guests needed to leave early, so it was a more deconstructed feel, but with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream it was just perfect. My only regret was not adding enough pears (I used 3 and thought that was enough but per the recipe you can really layer them in there).
First: I LOVE THIS CAKE!!
Thanks for also using metric measurments, makes it so much easier <3
i did not have unsalted butter, and I can tell you that regular butter works just fine.
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
This looks absolutely amazing! I wonder if I could make this gluten free and what type of flour you would suggest for that?
Hi Laurie, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Although some readers report using an all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour in many of our recipes with success, you should expect slightly different results anytime you substitute ingredients. Let us know if you give it a try.
Made this recipe last night with some pears I needed to do something with and it was amazing! Perfect balance between the sweetness of the pear topping and the spice from the gingerbread cake. Needs a little ice cream or cream to lift it because it’s kinda a heavy dessert. Very simple to make and forgiving!
I’ve made this once and my wife loved it! She’d like it for her birthday and wondered if we could double the amount of caramel sauce?
Hi Noah! We wouldn’t add that much moisture to the cake, but you could serve the cake with a drizzle of homemade caramel for extra caramel flavor!
Made this cake today, just beautiful!!!
I will be making this cake as soon as my pears tree gives me ripe enough pears. Is it OK to increase the amount of pears as my tree is LOADED with pears just turning ripe! Also, what is the name of your cookbook as I love your recipes and if I write down all of them from the website it would take me forever! Easier just to have your book. Thank you for all the yummies you have given us. I maybe an old lady but its nice to have new recipes to try.
Hi Sheree, we don’t recommend adding more pears to this cake, but here are all of our recipes that call for pears if you need more inspiration! You can find out more about all three of Sally’s cookbooks here. Thank you for making and trusting our recipes!
Sally has done it again! This cake is DELICIOUS!! A moist, flavorful cake with delicious pears on top. My pears were overripe and bruised, so they were much less firm than called for, and I ended up baking the cake for 50-55 mins with foil on the top for the last 15-20 mins. The ginger cake is soooo good! My kids said “pears are not for us, but please make that cake again!!” My dad and I thought the pears on top were amazing and paired (get it?!) beautifully with the ginger flavor. Will make again and again!! Sally, your recipes never disappoint me and this was a 5 star winner!
Thank you! I also had pears that were going soft and mine wasn’t baking right. I was wondering what I did wrong. Put it back in and it worked! Good call.
Hi there, really looking forward to trying this recipe tomorrow. I have both canned and frozen pears. Have you tried either of those for this cake or do you think they would be to wet? Thanks!
Hi Nina, fresh pears really are best, the canned ones will be too soft for best taste and texture.
Holy cow! Delicious! Made in a 9-inch round cake pan and it overflowed a little..put it on a pan with foil and it was fine. This is a keeper fur sure.
I followed the recipe to the letter. The gingerbread was moist, the caramel easy to make, and the final product was both delicious and beautiful. I recommend using a round rather than rectangular pan. The cake is much more attractive with the pears arranged in a circle and pointing to the middle, and the individual slices (triangular) look like an elevated dessert rather than like brownies.
Question ?
I LOVE this recipe. Can I double it or 1.5 it? Making for a large crowd and would love to use my large rectangle pan !
Hi Gillian! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
Hi is there any chance of doing this as a layer cake so make 2 of these cakes but leave out the pears in one of them, let that be the bottom, put a layer of buttercream in between and possibly do a naked icing around the outside but skipping the top where the pears would be shown after it was flipped over when cooked, sorry if this sounds complicated but I made a dessert similar to this and my fiancé absolutely loved it, he said it was the nicest dessert he ever ate but as I’m after getting into cake decorating I’d like to make a celebration cake version of this if its possible?
Hi Sarah! We haven’t tried it personally, but that should work out okay if you leave the pears off the bottom layer (otherwise we fear it would be too slippery). You might also want to use cake dowels just for a bit of extra support. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to know how it goes!
Thank you for your swift and detailed reply, just a silly question, where exactly would I insert the dowels?
LOVE, love, love all of your recipes and the detailed instruction that comes with them – thank you! I’m not a big fan of pears – is there another fruit that you feel would be a good compliment to the cake? 🙂
Hi Kimberly, a few readers have reported success using apples instead — let us know if you give it a try!
Made this cake over the weekend and everyone loved it! I one and halved the recipe to fit in a 9×13 pan and it worked well. I only added the 3/4 cup of molasses and it was plenty strong in the cake anyway. I will definitely cut the molasses when I make the cake again in it’s original size. Yum!
I made this to follow Christmas dinner. Did the topping part part then night before and baked the cake after dinner. Baked it in a round pan with the pears set up in a circle. It was excellent, very pretty and everyone loved it . An overall win.
Hi there! This recipe looks absolutely scrumptious! I’m an American living in the UK and this just feels like a taste of home. It’s more difficult to find molasses in the UK, though, so I’m wondering if you have a good substitute. For example, is there a combination of ingredients that would give me a similar flavour?
Thanks!
Hi Steph, Unfortunately, molasses (and ginger of course) is the main flavor in gingerbread. I recommend making this spice cake instead and using this pear topping. You may need a couple more pears since that recipe yields a 9×13 inch baking pan. The amount of brown sugar caramel sauce is enough. (The 1 Tbsp of molasses in that recipe is optional.)
Or if you want to experiment a bit with this recipe, black treacle is similar to pure molasses, but it’s generally described as a slightly burnt, bitter version of molasses. You can use it but the final taste of the cake may be a bit different. Or try using half black treacle and half maple syrup. Let us know what you try!
Hi Stephanie! Thank you for being so helpful! The recipe you suggested looks absolutely gorgeous. I’ll let you know how it turns out! Happy Holidays 🙂
Hi! I am an American and live in Australia and i replaced the molasses with golden syrup and it honestly turned out perfectly if it helps!
Could this be made in a Bundt pan? I want it to look a little fancier for Christmas. Maybe add some mint leaves and cranberries to look like a wreath.
Hi Jennifer, There is not enough batter here for a Bundt pan and unfortunately, we haven’t tested it in a larger quantity to be sure! Let us know what you try!
Hello Sally, I absolutely love your recipes!! They are my favorite! Here’s my question…can I add a cup of cranberries to this recipe like you did for the apple upside down cake? Is there anything else to do differently if they’re added? Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Hi Sheena! That should work perfectly – we suggest reducing the pears to 3 instead of 4 to account for the extra fruit in the topping. Hope you love it.
Is is possible to take this cake to a friend’s house for dinner? If so, should I bake it before I leave and reheat it there? Bake it, remove it from the pan, and serve at room temperature? Or should I bake it there while we are having dinner?
Thanks.
Hi Linda, Honestly you can do it however is easier for you! For ease, I would bake it and invert it at home and then just bring it on a tray to serve at room temperature.
Sally, I would love to turn this into loaves to give as gifts. Will half the batter make a nice loaf?
Hi Divya, You can try dividing this between two loaf pans or cutting the recipe in half for one loaf pan. We haven’t tested it so I’m unsure of the exact bake time needed (same oven temperature), but use a toothpick to test for doneness. When you insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean, it’s done.
I did this last night! The loaves turned out great — the hardest part was finding another container to put them in, since the loaf pans I used slant out a little. Oven temp was the same, but bake time was shorter. I started checking at 20 minutes and ended up pulling it at around 30 minutes. Good luck!
You think using gluten free flour would work in this recipe?
Hi Christine, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you try!
Hi, I just attempted to make this with King Arthur Gluten-free All-purpose flour (according to the package, I should be able to sub this 1:1 for traditional flour).
I haven’t put it in the oven yet, but the batter just looks…wrong. It’s very runny, and the butter has separated and floated to the top.
Aside from the flour, the only thing I can think is that the volume of butter and brown sugar is too little for a kitchenaid stand mixer, and they didn’t cream properly.
I’ve made similar recipes before I cut gluten out of my diet, so I have a rough idea of what the batter should look like.
Anyway, I’m gonna add more GF flour in 50 g increments until the batter meets my viscosity expectations. I’ll post again after I bake.
Follow-up:
OK, made at least 2 classic rookie mistakes:
1) I used “all-purpose GF flour” (which lacks xantham gum) instead of the “measure for measure GF flour” (which has xantham)
2) Adding more flour, per my note about 50g increments. I nearly doubled the flour before I reached my target consistency. And I (deservedly) ended up with a crumbly, chalky cake.
I’ll correct these mistakes on my next attempt and report back.
Oh my! This cake is delicious! I followed the recipe, except I used the fancy molasses I had on hand. It was done in 40 minutes. I may try unsulphured molasses next time. Thank you for a great recipe.
What is the trick for the caramel topping? Mine just wouldn’t come together. The first attempt ended up burnt and the second ended up in a hard candy when it cooled. Am I cooking too hot? Too long?
Hi Christine, could be both. Whisk constantly as the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon cook together. You may want to use a sturdier saucepan if you have one and reduce the heat to medium-low. If it begins separating or isn’t coming together, remove from heat and vigorously whisk until it comes together.
Hi Sally, what’s the trick to getting the topping seamlessly flipped? I always have the same problem when I make upside-down cakes with some of the sauce/fruit staying behind in the tin when I flip it over. I’ve tried parchment paper, no parchment, super buttering… but always the same result. It’s not the end of the world to spoon out the remaining fruit and sauce and rearrange the top of the cake, but it’s a bit frustrating after having painstakenly arranged my fruit the first time! Any tips?
(Awesome cake, by the way).
This was such a hit! I will make this again, often!
This is the best gingerbread, if not the best cake, that I’ve ever had. I’m shocked that this isn’t one of your more reviewed recipes because it is SO GOOD!! with a scoop of vanilla ice cream = heaven.
It survived even being “made” by my 4yo niece where a portion of the dry ingredients ended up in the floor! It still turned out good. I prepped the pears in advance and froze then, then partially thawed them for the assembly. It STILL tasted perfect. The only adjustment I made was to add a bit of fresh “squeeze” ginger.
Sally…not sure of how to email a question to you…Please excuse me if this “rating” section is not ok for questions.
I foresee a timing problem; must prepare it several hours before serving, but would love to serve it warm. Would it be ok to prepare the cake completely, up through the point of inverting it onto the serving plate, and then after 3-4 hours at room temperature, reheat before serving? If so, oven or microwave? Temperature? Time? Tented foil while reheating? Many thanks.
Hi Ann! I’m glad to help. My recommendation is to fully bake the cake as instructed. Keep the cake in the pan (do not invert it yet) until 20-30 minutes before serving. Then place in a 300°F (149°C) oven to re-warm it for about 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven then immediately invert it. This is what I would do!
Wow, this is a copy of the Epicurious recipe, right? Just made it from their 2002 recipe, googled it to find the recipe again, yours showed up further upstream, but dated 2018. NM, it’s delicious!
Hi Mary, I haven’t seen a 2002 recipe like this on that website. I adapted this recipe from my Gingerbread Snack Cake which is something my mother used to make. I was curious and found a gingerbread cake dated 2002 but it looks like the recipes are quite different. Mine uses more butter, less egg, more flour, no baking powder, less brown sugar, more molasses, and less water. Feel free to email me if you’d like to discuss further. Thanks for your feedback!
Nice cake, easy forgiving recipe. We’re eating it now. I followed the recipe, but our pears were ripe and one of them was an apple. The cake is nicely fluffy with a subtle molasses flavor and a slightly chewy/crisp caramelized crust. The fruit topping is a nice contrast – not too sweet, balanced.
I used “super flex” all purpose flour from the Baking Authority. Maybe it helped fluff the cake?
The problem with these cakes is they don’t last very long. Plus we’ll be rolling up and fown the stairs instead of walking if I keep working through these recipes.