Gingerbread Upside Down Cake over Spicy Pear/White Peach Compote



Very low fat, vegan cake. I made a pear, white peach compote and chilled it over night. I don't think you would need to chill this, though. I made a recipe called War Cake because it was developed for rationed ingredients, so there is no egg or milk or butter in it. (The original recipe had 1 c. raisins and 1/2 c. chopped nuts in it, if you want those too, add the raisins with the wet ingredients and the nuts with the dry.)

I baked this in a ceramic oval dish @ 7" x 9" and 2" deep. it could work in other dishes, just watch the time, which I didn't record, so I'll give guidelines.

Compote:
2 large, ripe pears, cut into wedges, cored but not peeled
3 white peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into wedges
@1/2 c. white sugar (brown would work)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbl. margarine
@ 1 Tbl. cinnamon, and some clove, ginger and mace to taste (maybe 1/2 tsp each?)
Simmer until fruit is softened and juices have thickened with the sugar. Cool.
If it is too dry, you could always add a splash or two of juice (like apple or orange)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cake:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbl. margarine
1 Tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1-1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

In a sauce pan, bring water, sugar, margarine and cinnamon and clove to a boil. Simmer until margarine is fully melted, stirring occasionally. Let cool until comfortably warm to your finger.
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add them to cooled sugar mixture, until completely incorporated.

Evenly spread fruit mixture in bottom of baking dish, and then evenly spread the gingerbread batter over the top.

Bake for about 20 minutes (I didn't time it, I just kept checking the cake dough until it was cooked. It will probably take at least 20 minutes.) A tooth pick will come out clean even before its done because the batter is very thick. You want the dough to be airy and firm. The fruit will be bubbly around the sides and keep the bottom of the batter moist, just make sure the dry part of the batter is cooked.
Serve warm or cold. I didnt have any, but this would be really good with whipped cream.


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