We didn’t have anything exciting to do. I had grocery shopping to do, cleaning, laundry – typical housework that usually takes up a lot of my weekend time. Baking and making meals. So I baked and I baked a simple, yet delicious cake that I have never made. Not only was it delicious, baking it allowed me to tick off the U in my Baking through the Alphabet project. I am on the home stretch now. What did I make? I could have made an Ultimate recipe. Ultimate chocolate chip cookies, ultimate pound cake – you get the idea. Instead, I made an Upside-down pineapple cake. Yep, never made one in my life. Now I can say I have and darn, it is good, easy and so pretty.
I used a recipe that I found in this cookbook:
I love King Arthur – totally love their website, their cookbooks, their products.
Upside-Down Pineapple Cake
Topping that starts on the Bottom
¼ cup (½ a stick) butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple rings (you’ll need 6 to 7)
maraschino cherries, optional
½ cup pecan halves, optional
Cake Batter
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk or buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups pre-mixed King Arthur “Self-Rising” Flour*
*You can substitute 1 ½ cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt for the “self-rising” flour.
Preheat your oven to 350° degrees.
Preparing the Topping: Make a slurry of the butter and brown sugar in your skillet over low heat. After the sugar has dissolved, remove the skillet from heat. (If you’re going to bake your cake in a pie plate, make the slurry in a small saucepan and then pour in to the pie plate.)
The slurry
The slurry goes into the baking dish.
This is looking good.
Making the Batter: In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until light and, while still beating, slowly add the vegetable oil. Mix in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend in your “self-rising” flour or substitutes.
Gently spoon this batter, I poured, over the pineapple slices and slide the skillet (or pie pan) into your oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Make sure the cake is done by gently pressing on the center surface. If it’s done, it will spring back.
Flipping the Cake: Now comes the exciting part. Take the cake out of the oven. Invert a serving plate over top of the skillet. Holding the plate and the skillet very firmly with a couple of pot holders, or folded towels, quickly flip them over and set them down on the counter. Leave the skillet upside down for a couple of minutes to make sure everything has fallen out of it and onto the cake. Take the skillet off and rearrange anything that has slipped out of place.
(Recipe from the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook)
Turned out pretty nice!
A view from the top.
Elliott was ready to try it as soon as I flipped it over. He just loves cherries! I let it cool a bit then cut each of us a piece. He liked it. He asked for seconds and I told him no. Olivia came out to try a piece as well. She ate the cake, and liked it, nibbled on the pineapple slice and threw that off to the side and let Elliott eat the cherry. So I won't say she likes this particular cake. John joined Elliott and I as he ate one huge slice, or two little ones, as I wasn't around when he decided to try it. I noticed how little was left when I returned to the kitchen. I wrote in my cookbook stating this was delicious and we liked it. I'm thinking Olivia's tastes will change in time.
After making this, I made bread, roasted a chicken and a huge pan of vegetables, made mashed potatoes and gravy then we sat down to dinner. We ended the weekend off with stuffed, satisfied bellies.
Oh, in one way, I LOVE this cold weather. When I am in my kitchen, I am so very happy!
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