An Autumnal Pear Upside Down Cake with a gluten free Mocha sponge. Made with unrefined sugars, it is rich with caramel notes alongside the earthy sweetness from the chocolate-coffee cake. A perfect dessert with custard, cream or ice cream. Optional dairy free.
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A gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake for Autumn
When it’s officially Autumn, I make gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake to celebrate. I know it’s Autumn, because the pears are at their best and they can be seen ripening on the neighbourhood trees. This particular cake was made with local pears gifted by a friend from her garden… A perfect seasonal offering. Sweet, fruity and comforting.
A perfect pairing… Mocha sponge for my gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake
The recipe used for this Pear Upside Down Cake has a gluten free Mocha Sponge. An unlikely pairing? Maybe. But the intense and slightly bitter tang of coffee-infused chocolate sponge marries beautifully against the butter-softened pears. The sponge is (as with most upside-down cakes) a little dense, but superbly moist. The addition of ground almonds brings structure, tenderness, subtle nuttiness and shelf-life to the bake. Somehow, it just works!
Not a fan of Mocha? It’s fine to leave out the coffee…
That’s fine. If you don’t like mocha, just leave out the coffee powder and use water (or sub with milk for extra richness). Chocolate and pear are a fantastic combo and (in my opinion) much under-used.
The gift of Autumn… Seasonal fruit
I love Autumn. The beauty and magic of the colour-changing leaves… The musty, but slightly sweet smell of decaying foliage under foot… The still, cold air on bright mornings alternating with squally winds… The senses awakened.
And with Autumn comes the abundance of the harvest to delight the taste buds. Hedgerows woven together and decorated with purple blackberries and bright rosehips… Fruit trees heavy with their gift of apples, pears and peaches… Squirrels thieving the cobnuts and chestnuts for their winter stores.
I feel fortunate to live in the ‘Garden of England’. Its wealth of fruit trees seems to adorn not just the countryside, but gardens on every street. It makes walking a dream… Literally grabbing flawless, curvy green fruit from over-hanging trees and boxes with big signs that read ‘please help yourself’… Munching fresh, firm and crisp. Free food doesn’t get better and it would be wrong not to exploit every last shared offering. My gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake is perfect for their use.
Is this gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake safe for Coeliacs?
Yes. My Pear Upside Down Cake has been created to be totally safe for people with Coeliac Disease (Celiac Disease) and other gluten-intolerants. And since it was developed using my Gluten Free Alchemist wholegrain Blend B, it is also rice free and thus has no potential arsenic risk either.
Nonetheless, as with all gluten free baking, be sure to check ingredient labels for any chance of cross-contamination or ‘may contain’ warnings. Especially if you have a gluten-related health condition.
A gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake that is also free from refined sugar
In addition to gluten and rice, this recipe for Pear Upside Down Cake is also made to be free from refined sugar. Instead of standard caster sugar, it uses coconut sugar and maple syrup. Apart from being more natural, using coconut and maple sugars also give the sponge some wonderful caramel notes and depth of sweetness that you just don’t get with white sugar.
Can I make gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake dairy free?
Yes. The only dairy-containing ingredient used in the recipe is butter. And this can be simply substituted for a good dairy free block alternative. I recommend either Stork or Flora unsalted baking blocks.
How to serve gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake
The beauty of an upside-down cake is that it is always flipped to show its best side. So, once baked and cooled a little, flip it out onto a favourite serving plate to show it off in all its fruity pear glory!
What then? While it’s delicious served as it is (it’s a moist and succulent cake that needs nothing to enhance it), it makes a perfect Autumnal comfort dessert served with lashings of custard, a drizzle of cream, or some vanilla ice cream alongside.
Ready to make gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake?
And that’s it… My gluten free Pear Upside Down Cake. Will you make it?
If you do, please come back and tell me how you got on in the comments at the bottom. You can also find me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest. #glutenfreealchemist
And if you love what you see, feel free to rate the recipe too ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. You can do this via the comments section or direct on the recipe card.
Thanks for visiting Gluten Free Alchemist and happy baking. We hope to see you again soon.
Other fabulous gluten free Pear recipes you’ll love…
Other #freefromharvest ideas from the free from blogging community
- Gluten Free Alchemist – French Apple Tart (gluten free/optional dairy free/vegan)
- The Intolerant Gourmand – GF DF Apple Crumble; Pumpkin Risotto
- Gluten Free Alchemist – Blackberry Whisky
- Easy Peasy Foodie – Peri Peri Chicken; Vegan Vegetable Korma
- Dairy Free Kids – Apple & Blackberry Crumble
- Gluten Free Alchemist – Pear Frangipane Tart with Berry-Poached Pears
- Gluten Free Alchemist – Red Lentil Dahl with Roasted Pumpkin
- Gluten Free Alchemist – No Churn Blackberry Ice Cream
- Gluten Free Alchemist – Blackberry Apple Crumble Slice
- Gluten Free Alchemist – Plum Upside Down Cake with Blueberries
Pear Upside Down Cake with Mocha Sponge
Key equipment
- 1 x 8 inch round spring form baking tin
- Oven
- sharp vegetable knife
- measuring jug
Ingredients
Fruit 'base'
- 2 large firm pears peeled and deseeded – sliced lengthways into ‘half-moons’
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar or brown sugar
- a few small knobs of butter
Mocha Sponge
- 1½ tbsp instant espresso coffee powder (or less as preferred)
- 140 ml/g boiling water
- 180 g gluten free plain flour blend eg. Gluten Free Alchemist Blend B or A – See NOTES
- 40 g ground almonds almond meal
- ½ tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder gluten free
- 30 g cocoa powder
- 125 g butter (or dairy free block alternative) softened
- 125 g coconut sugar
- 50 g maple syrup
- 2 large eggs At room temperature – UK large (Canadian ‘Extra Large’; Australian ‘Jumbo’; and US ‘Extra or Very Large’)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- mocha beans/icing sugar/grated dark chocolate to decorate all optional
Instructions
Fruit 'base'
- Base-line an 8 inch (20 cm) round, spring-form, non-stick cake tin with baking paper.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
- Lightly butter the baking paper in the base of the cake tin and arrange the peeled, deseeded, sliced pears on top. Sprinkle with a little sugar.
- Dab a few small nobs of butter on the pear and place in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the pear is just browning and the butter and sugar are bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and turn the temperature down to 160 C/320 F/Gas 3.
Sponge
- Dissolve the coffee powder in the boiling water and set aside to cool. (To help cool a little quicker, use a half-half mix of hot and cold water, dissolving the powder in the hot water before adding the cold)
- Weigh and mix together the flour, almonds, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cocoa, making sure all the ingredients are well blended and all lumps are broken down (TIP: weigh into an airtight container and shake well). Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and maple syrup with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl and add, a little at a time to the butter-mix, beating thoroughly between each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat again.
- Add the dry ingredients and cooled coffee and fold with a large spoon or spatula until just combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the cake tin on top of the pears and smooth the batter so that the surface is even.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the cake is set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and leave the cake for 10 to 15 minutes in the tin to cool slightly, before turning out onto a wire rack (upside-down, so that the pears are on the top).
- Sprinkle with grated chocolate/icing sugar/mocha beans to decorate.
- Enjoy on its own, warm or cold or with coconut cream, custard or ice cream.
Notes
Nutrition
© 2019-2023 Kate Dowse All Rights Reserved – Do not copy or re-publish this recipe or any part of this recipe on any other blog, on social media or in a publication without the express permission of Gluten Free Alchemist
Pear Upside Down Cake shared with
- Fiesta Friday #408 with Angie
- Create, Bake, Grow & Gather #495 with Shabby Art Boutique
- Full Plate Thursday #563 with Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
- What’s for Dinner #341 with The Lazy Gastronome
- Sundays on Silverado #68 with The House on Silverado
This is such a lovely recipe! I really like the combination of chocolate and pears and love the fact that it’s an upside down cake.
Thanks Corina. It’s hard to go wrong with an upside down cake xx
Hi Kate,
It’s my first time baking with pears. It’s a heavenly pairing with chocolate and that aroma of coffee. The taste is very good. However, the texture of my cake came out slightly chewy. Would you know what i did wrong?
Thank you.
Hi Jo. I’ve just seen this so sorry for any delay.
I’m thinking it may have been over-mixed? It is quite a dense, moist cake anyway (almost more dessert-like) but if you over-mix GF sponge, they can get a bit ‘tight’ because of the binders that you add. To be honest, you could probably just ditch the xanthan altogether on this one. It’s a bit ‘belt and braces’.
But my best tip is that when you fold in a GF cake batter, stop as soon as it is just combined.
Hope that helps x
What a gorgeous cake, and perfect for Autumn too
This is STUNNING – I can just imagine how good those flavours are together! Thanks so much for joining in with this month's round of Simple and in Season with such a lush bake 🙂
Thank you so much Katie. You are more than welcome x
Such a beautifully written post Kate. It really conjures up the joys of autumn which comes a close second to spring as my favourite month. The apple harvest here in Hampshire seems to be epic too with similar help yourself boxes dotted around the place.
I would never have thought to pair coffee with pairs, but it sounds like it's worth a try. Your cake certainly looks delicious. Thanks for sharing with #WeShouldCocoa.
Thank you Choclette for your lovely comment. I think Autumn is one of those months that really teases the senses and is perfect for being a little creative with words.
Coffee and pears seems to be a rather good combination (I had not tried it before either)!
Hope you are settling well into your new Hampshire home x
This is a lovely cake and pears and chocolate are just perfect together!
Thank you Alida x
Oh my word…so pretty and what gorgeous photography. And that combo – wow! Pears with chocolate, yes…but I'm not sure I've ever paired pears with coffee, but it sounds delicious. Eb x
Thank you Eb. I was a bit wobbly about the photos for this, so good so hear they are ok!
Pears and coffee was not something I had tried before either, but it worked really well x
I think upside down cakes are really cool, and yours has the added advantage of having a great flavour combination – I absolutely love fruit with chocolate, plus there is coffee in it too so this is my ideal cake:)
Thanks Monika. Me too! The coffee really changed the flavour dynamic, but worked so well with the pears xx
What a fabulous looking cake with a fantastic crumb. Chocolate and pear is one of my fave pudding combos so I'm already sold!Beautiful!
Thank you Jenny. I love that Upside-Down cakes are always so moist. Perfect with custard! x
As always Kate this looks amazing! I adore the flavour combination that you have used. Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thanks Kirsty. You're welcome x
Looks and sounds amazing Kate!
Thank you Renee x
Oh my word! This looks so fantastic. I adore upside down cakes and could demolish this in one sitting I reckon!
Thank you Vicki. I think I came pretty close myself….. x
I have been given some pears by a neighbour in exchange for plums. Other than making a cake with it recently, I am still dithering what to do with the rest. The pear ginger preserve sounds good to me, but as I have recently made a marrow preserve some with ginger, i think i will give that a miss and this cake appeals, but there are only so many cakes I can eat – the the mocha addition.
It is definitely that time of year where there is almost too much free food to use before it goes off, so it is lovely that people share…. at least that way you have more variety. Good luck using all your gifted pears. x
I love the idea of people sharing their fruit harvest with complete strangers Kate – it's so lovely and a great way to make sure non of it goes to waste. I'm a huge fan of upsidedown cakes, and I love the fact that you've teamed mocha with pears – it sounds absolutely glorious! Thanksyou too for joining in with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
Angela x
Thank you Angela. The fruit boxes have certainly brought a smile to my face. I think the trees were breaking under the weight this year!
I too love upside down cakes…. they seem particularly lovely for very little effort. xx
Oh Kate this looks delicious, after Lewis' birthday I'm all sweet treated out! Time for a good old cake with fruity goodness in it….perfect timing. Off to check I have all the ingredients xxx
Thanks Rebecca. Fruit cakes are always a good 'less guilty' option! x
Your cake looks lovely – it is spring here and the berries are beckoning but I do love autumn and pears make for such pretty cakes
Thanks Johanna. It's funny….. as the Autumn sets in every year here, I think about your end of the world warming up….. I so miss the summer months, but Autumn is a lovely compensation xx