Elizabeth Falkner's Upside Pear Crunch Coffee Cake Recipe

Elizabeth Falkner from the popular Food Network series, The Next Iron Chef, is partnering with Harry & David for a Seasonal Chef Program. Falkner has created this special recipe that we are so excited to share with all of you to enjoy making over the holiday season.

The program at Harry & David features a partnership with chefs Elizabeth Falkner, Eric Greenspan and Jenn Louis, who will create seasonally-inspired recipes featuring Harry & David's quality produce in its Fruit of the Month Club. All of these recipes can be made at home using the delicious produce from Harry & David.

Elizabeth Falkner’s Recipe Upside Pear Crunch Coffee Cake 
Serves: 4

For the Crunch:

•  1 ½ C. demerara sugar or brown sugar 
• 1 t. ground cinnamon 
• ¼ t. ground nutmeg 
• ½ t. salt 
• 1 TB. flour 
• 2 TB. butter 

For the Crunch: Work all ingredients together with a spatula or your fingers and set aside.

For the Coffee Cake:

•  2 ea. Harry & David Royal Riviera® Pears, cored and sliced into 1/2 " slices with skin on 
• 4 oz. unsalted butter 
• 1 C. sugar 
• 2 ea. large eggs 
• 1 C. sour cream 
• ¼ C. milk 
• 1 t. vanilla extract 
• 1 ½ C. flour 
• 1 ½ t. baking powder 
• ½ t. baking soda 
• 1 t. salt 

For the Coffee Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar together with a spatula or in a mixer with paddle attachment. 
3. Add the eggs and combine to emulsify. 
4. Add the sour cream, milk and vanilla extract and stir to combine. 
5. Add dry ingredients just to combine. 
6.  Sprinkle half of the Crunch mixture divided between 2 loaf pans. 
7. Divide the Harry & David Royal Riviera® Pears slices lined down each loaf pan on top of the Crunch layer. 
8. Divide Coffee Cake batter over the pears in each pan. 
9. Finally, divide the rest of the Crunch over the batter in each pan. Bake for 30 minutes until cake is set. 

 To Serve: Cool completely, this takes awhile, be patient. Then invert cake upside when cool, slice and serve.