Upside-Down Pear Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients

• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet or a 12-inch deep nonstick skillet (handle wrapped with a double layer of foil if not ovenproof)
• vanilla ice cream
• 2 ½ firm pears (preferably Bosc)
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• + 9 more ingredients
• • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup molasses (preferably mild)
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup light brown sugar

Peel and core pears and cut each into 8 wedges. Melt butter in skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Reduce heat to low, then sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of skillet and cook, undisturbed, 3 minutes (not all sugar will be melted). Arrange pears decoratively over sugar and cook, undi...

View full recipe at Epicurious