Pineapple Upside-down Cake

Hello and welcome back to Tasty treats!! I sure do miss posting more on this blog, but my work is taking up most of the time and I dont get to try out new recipes very often nowadays. But when I do, I make sure to take some pictures so that I can share it with you all.

Pineapple upside-down cake is one of those special cakes that I remeber from when I was young. My aunt used to bake it once-in-a-while and I remember that the name used to intrigue me! Eventhough it was like an exotic cake back then, I never got around to trying it out myself when I started baking. But finally I got a good recipe from a cookbook and I made this pineapple upside-down cake during the 4th of July weekend, when we had some friends come over to our place for a lunch get-together. I had baked the cake the day before, with two extra single serve cakes in ramekins so that we didnt have to wait until the next day to try it.

Just as soon as the picture session was over, we dived into our ramekin single serve cake shares. I must say, I really enjoyed the caramelised taste of the melted brown sugar and butter over the pineapple slices. The cake was really soft and delicate - the kind thats fluffy and delicious, with the caramelized pineapple piece in each mouthful. The reviews from JM indicated that he also enjoyed it really well. But unfortunately, I fell sick when the guests came over the next day and I was in bed!!!! So I had to forfeit the pleasure of serving the 8" cake and my guests served themselves. From what I could see, they really enjoyed the cake as well, with their little boy happily eating the cake. My friend asked for the recipe, the biggest acknowledgement of all.....

Hope you enjoyed the rceipe. Give this recipe a try and enjoy!!

Recipe (Makes 8 servings) :

Pineapple slices in juice - 2 cans (8oz each)
Butter or margarine - 8 tbsp (1 stick), softened
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup, packed
Cake flour (not self rising) - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar - 2/3 cup
Egg - 1, large
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/3 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 325F.

Drain pineapple slices in sieve set over bowl. Reserve 2 tbsp juice.

Cut 8 slices in half and drain on paper towels. Refrigerate remaining slices for another use.

In a 10" oven-safe skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring until smooth.

Stir in reserved pineapple juice and heat to boiling; boil 1 minute.

Remove skillet from heat.

Decoratively arrange pineapple in skillet, overlapping slices slightly to fit.

In a small bowl, with fork, mix flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat the remaining 6 tbsp butter and granulated sugar until fluffy, frequently scraping the bowl with a spatula.

Reduce speed to low, beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.

Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Beat just until blended.

Spoon batter over pineapple, spread evenly.

Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean; 40-45 minutes.

Immediately run a thin knife around the edges to loosen cake from the side of the skillet.

Invert cake onto serving plate. (If any pineapple slices stick to the skillet, remove and replace on cake).

Cook 30 minutes to serve warm, or cool completely to serve later.

Source : Good Housekeeping Best Loved Desserts.

Tips:

1. I used a 20 oz can of pineapple rings.
2. Instead of baking in a skillet, I used an 8" round cake pan and 2 ramekins.
3. I didnt cut the pineapple rings in half, but used about 7 whole slices to line the base of the 8" cake pan and 2 more in the ramekins.
4. The cherries were placed in the middle of the pineapple slices after baking, for presentation.
5. I served the cake with a scoop of icecream on the side, though I should say, it tastes awesome just as is.
   

Hope you all enjoyed the recipe for today. Have a great day and an awesome weekend!!