Pear Custard Bake

The other day I had some pears and a craving for something sweet. After searching through a variety of recipes, I decided to combine a recipe for a custard pear bake with a recipe for upside down pear cake. That turned out to be an entirely delicious decision.

The ingredient list is pretty basic.

Start by making the caramel sauce. Use a 9-inch cast iron pan to melt the butter and sugar together.

Give the caramel time to cool so you don’t burn your fingers when you add the pears.

Blend the ingredients for the custard and set aside.

Then wash, peel, core, and slice the pears.

Layer pear slices over the caramel (again, let caramel cool so there isn’t a hazard of burning your fingers… heed the voice of experience and burned fingers.).

Pour batter over pears. Do not stir!

Bake for 40 minutes, until the custard is a beautiful golden brown. You can serve like this, right out of the pan, with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Or… you can flip the pear bake over onto a serving plate and revel in all that gooey, decadent caramel sauce coating the pears.

Then enjoy!

Pear Custard Bake

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup butter

3 firm pears

3 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat a 9-inch cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Melt 1/4 cup butter and brown sugar in the skillet, stirring constantly for about two minutes, until slightly thickened and starting to bubble. Set aside to cool.

Mix remaining butter, eggs, milk, salt, sugar, flour, and vanilla, combining until smooth. Set aside.

Wash, peel, and core pears. Cut into 1/4-inch slices then layer on top of caramel. Pour custard batter over the pears.

Do not stir!

Bake for about 40 minutes, until custard is golden and firm.

Remove from oven. You can dust the top with powdered sugar and serve or you can turn the pear bake onto a serving platter then serve.