Pineapple Upside-Down Cake #recipe by @LeslieKarst

 

It was my wife Robin's 70th birthday a couple weeks ago, so I made one of her favorite desserts for the dinner party we hosted to celebrate the occasion: pineapple upside-down cake. The recipe may look complicated, but it's not difficult to make--just a bit labor-intensive, since you have to whip the egg whites separately and then fold them into the batter. But my, oh my, was the cake delicious!

 

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients

Topping:
4 T (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapple rings (or fresh, if you prefer)

Batter:
1 ½ cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
½ cup milk

Note that although the quantities listed are for one cake, the photos will show that I doubled the recipe and made two cakes. If you want to do this and freeze the second cake, place it on a plate in the freezer uncovered. When it’s frozen solid, then wrap it well. Remove the wrapping before you defrost it.  

Directions

Oil a 9" cake pan.

For the caramel topping (bottom): Dump your brown sugar (I used sucanat, and it worked fine) and butter into a saucepan,

 


and stir over a medium heat until the butter has melted and the brown sugar dissolves. Cook a few more minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the sugar to caramelize.

 

 

Immediately pour the caramel into the oiled pan. (If you wait, it will start to harden before you pour it.)


Then arrange the pineapple slices on top of the caramel:

 


 

For the batter: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.


 

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, and then add the vanilla extract. Continue beating, adding the egg yolks, one at a time.

 


Mix the flour mixture (in three parts) into the batter, alternatively with the milk (in two parts), ending with the dry ingredients.

 


In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold a firm peak,

 


and fold gently with a rubber spatula into the batter (in two or three parts):

 


Pour the batter into the cake pan on top of the pineapple and caramel, and smooth the top:

 


(You might just feel the urge to lick the batter bowl clean, as this was the tastiest cake batter I have ever had!)

Bake until the top of the cake has browned and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan (50-60 minutes). A toothpick inserted into the cake (not the pineapple) should come out clean:

Remove from oven and let cool for about 10-15 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan, place a serving plate on top of the pan,

 


and invert the cake onto the plate. (See photo at top.)

The cake can be made the morning before service and reheated in the oven at 400°F. If it’s not brown enough for your taste, you can put it under the broiler.

I served mine with vanilla ice cream. So delicious!

 

🌿 🍍 🌱

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Pineapple Upside Down Cake #recipe @LucyBurdette

Lucy Burdette: I had to make a pineapple upside-down cake because John wanted to try growing a pineapple! We've been having some delicious fruit this year--the secret is to ripen them on the counter for a few days. You will see at the end of this post that our new kitty T-bone enjoyed the pineapple, too. (Sorry about blurry photos--it happened fast and I was laughing too hard to get my phone ready...)

Ingredients for Upside Down Pineapple Cake

1/2 fresh pineapple
8-9 Maraschino cherries
12 Tbsp butter, divided
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 and 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch cake pan, bottom and sides. (I used some of the butter above, figuring there's plenty in the recipe already!) Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan, put it in the bottom and butter that too. 

Peel and core the pineapple. You will be probably only need half but if you've let it ripen, the rest will be delicious as a snack.

Melt 4 oz of butter in a small pan. Add the honey and brown sugar and heat until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and then place the fruit into the pan. You can make whatever design you choose, circles seems to be traditional, but I cut some of the rounds into quarters at the end to fit them all in. Dot with cherries.

Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in one bowl and measure milk into a glass measuring cup. In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla with a mixer until they are light in color. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk until everything is mixed nicely. 

Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let the cake rest on a rack for an hour. Then place your serving  plate over the top and gently invert the cake onto the platter. Mine slid out beautifully, leaving the parchment paper in the pan. 

You have to admit from a kitten's eye view, a pineapple looks a lot like a tree trunk!

Death on the Menu, the 8th Key West food critic mystery, is available now from Crooked Lane Books. You can order it wherever books are sold! A DEADLY FEAST will be out in May, but can be pre-ordered now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, or wherever you buy your books.

And please follow Lucy on Instagram and Bookbub!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake @LucyBurdette

Molly and Lucy in front of defunct Duck Tour boat

LUCY BURDETTE: We've had a steady stream of visitors in Key West this winter (not a surprise, right?), most recently a quick bonus trip from our daughter. Molly was escaping the rigors of her Emergency Medicine residency and came with hopes of playing tennis, relaxing by the pool, and baking a cake. 

Baking a cake! What could be better than that request? We chose to try a pineapple upside cake because I'd come across a beauty of a pineapple at the Botanical Gardens open house over the weekend. (For sale, I mean--I didn't steal it off a tree:). 

This is an easy recipe--with two of us working on it, I'd say it took half an hour to put together. Molly talked me into using my new stand mixer--I'm still working on my relationship with that machine, after some pizza dough turned out a little tough.

Ingredients

1/2 fresh pineapple or canned, well-drained (not in syrup)

4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup slivered almonds (or whole maraschino cherries or pecans)

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup sugar
8 Tbsp. butter (so that makes 12 altogether)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk


Preheat the oven to 325. Butter a 9 inch cake pan, bottom and sides. (I used some of the butter above, figuring there's plenty in the recipe already!) Cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan, put it in the bottom and butter that too.

Peel and stem the pineapple; cut it into rings or whatever shape your artistic side demands.Melt 4 oz of butter in a small pan. Add the honey and brown sugar and heat until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, sprinkle with sliced almonds, and then arrange the pineapple in the pan. 

(You can put maraschino cherries in the center if you want to be old-fashioned, or you might replace the cherries with pecans. Since I had neither on hand, we tried sliced almonds before settling the pineapple into the butter.)

Meanwhile, combine the flours and baking powder in one bowl and measure milk into a glass measuring cup.In another bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar and vanilla and almond extracts until they are light in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk until everything is mixed nicely.

Pour the batter over the fruit and nuts and bake for about 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

 



Let the cake rest on a rack for at least 15 minutes. Then place your serving  plate over the top and gently invert the cake onto the platter. Ours slid out beautifully, leaving the parchment paper in the pan. Baking and cooking brings even more joy when someone's working with you, don't you think?


Speaking of joy, thanks to all the readers who bought MURDER WITH GANACHE over the past two weeks. If you haven't gotten yours yet, Duke says "why not? It's the cat's pajamas!" GANACHE can be purchased wherever books are sold.

And please stay up on all the Key West foodie news by following Lucy on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.