I will admit, when I saw the recipe for this Pear and Walnut Upside Down Gingerbread cake I was a little hesitant on what it would taste like. But my curiosity got the best of me and I had to try it. 
It’s pretty much a gingerbread cake with pear, walnuts, brown sugar and butter melted down to a gooey, sticky topping on the gingerbread. Not a bit surprising as it came out of the Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey cookbook. I bought this years ago and never made anything out of it. I was cleaning out the storage area of the garage and found it.
This recipe is very easy to make, it’s just basically a gingerbread with gooey topping. 
You just grease an 8 inch cake pan, cream together the brown sugar and butter, and pat into the cake pan. Add the pears and walnuts. 
Then make the gingerbread and pour on top of pear mixture. 
The result is a delicious home made gingerbread with a delicious topping. The pears have such a delicate flavor, they compliment the gingerbread nicely.
The only thing I may do different is instead of dicing the pears, slice them and arrange in a pretty pattern.
There is nothing better than gingerbread made from scratch. Welcome Fall!
Pear and Walnut Upside Down Gingerbread
Ingredients
Topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and diced or sliced
1⁄3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
Batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
ground cloves, a pinch
1 large egg
3⁄4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons dark unsulphered molasses
1⁄2 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Position oven rack in the middle of the oven; preheat oven to 350°; spray an 8-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together and spread over the bottom and halfway up the sides of the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the pears and walnuts over the bottom of the pan; set aside.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices into a big bowl.
In another bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, molasses, buttermilk, and melted butter.
Gradually whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking only until combined.
Carefully pour the batter over the nuts and pears in the pan.
Bake until the top of the cake is firm and shiny and the sides are pulling away slightly from the pan, 35-45 minutes.
Remove the cake from the oven, place a large serving plate over the top of the cake, and turn it out onto the plate.
Remove the cake pan; if any nuts or pears are still stuck to the pan, carefully scrape them, and any of the sweet, sticky sauce onto the cake, smoothing it out with a knife.
Let the cake cool slightly, the cut into wedges.
Serve warm, dolloped with whipped cream if desired.
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