Line a 23 cm (10 inch) cake tin with a removable bottom and spray or grease well. Pre-heat the oven to 170 C / 325 F
Peel the pears and cut into 8 ths or similar. Not thin slices, nice chunks. Arrange on the bottom of the tin
Put the butter, sugar, lemon juice and beer in to a wide bottomed pot and bring to a simmer. Boil over medium to high heat till it starts to turn golden brown. Make sure it is a nice brown colour before adding the 1/2 cup of water. stir and bring back to the boil before taking off the heat and adding the salt, stir well.
Pour enough of the caramel over the pears to cover, you probably wont need all of it . Set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients, then add the beer, melted butter, egg and buttermilk and mix well.
Pour the batter over the caramel and smooth down. Bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Let the cake sit for 5-10 minutes after you take it out of the oven. Run a sharp knife around the edge carefully and remove removable side of the cake tin. . Turn the cake over onto a plate and remove the cake base, then peel off the baking paper. My second and third attempt were amazing.