Chocolate Pineapple Cherry Pecan Upside Down Cake Food

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
• Pour 1/4 cup melted butter into an ungreased 9×2 inch pie dish or round cake pan. (Make sure the pan is 2 inches deep. I recommend this pie dish, which is 1.8 inches deep but I never have an overflow issue.) Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Blot any excess liquid off the fruit with a clean towel or paper towel. (The wetter the fruit, the more likely the cake could overflow or the topping could seep over the sides when inverted.) Arrange about 6-7 blotted pineapple slices and all the cherries on top of the brown sugar. I like to halve 3 pineapple rings and arrange them around the sides of the pan, too. See my photo and video above for a visual of the arranged topping. Place pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes as you prepare the cake batter. This helps solidify or "set" the topping's arrangement.
• Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until creamed together, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. On high speed, beat in the egg whites until combined, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer onto low speed and as the mixer runs, slowly pour in the pineapple juice and milk. Beat on low speed just until all of the ingredients are combined. Do not over-mix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Remove topping from the refrigerator. Pour and spread cake batter evenly over topping.
• Bake for 43-48 minutes, tenting foil on top of the cake halfway through bake time to prevent the top from over-browning before the center has a chance to fully cook. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean- a couple moist crumbs are OK. Don't be alarmed if your cake takes longer or if the cake rises up and sticks to the foil. (We serve the cake upside down anyway!)
• Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for just 20 minutes. Invert the slightly cooled cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Some of the juices from the topping will seep over the sides- that's ok. You can slice and serve the cake warm, but the slices will be messy. I find it's best to cool the cake completely at room temperature before slicing and serving. Do not refrigerate the cake to speed up the cooling process because it could end up tasting overly dense.
• Cover leftover slices and store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature. I don't recommend freezing the cake as a whole because the topping arrangement doesn't thaw very nicely. See make ahead instructions below.

PINEAPPLE CHERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Evenly sprinkle pineapple in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Carefully spread with pie filling. Sprinkle with dry cake mix and drizzle with butter. , Bake until top is golden brown, 50-60 minutes.

PINEAPPLE-CHERRY UPSIDE DOWN BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Spray a bundt pan with nonstick spray.
• Evenly pour the melted butter into the bottom of the bundt pan and top with the brown sugar.
• Cut the pineapple rings in half and, alternating with the cherries, place into the butter-brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.
• In a large bowl, combine the cake and pudding mixes together. Add the reserved pineapple juice and milk. Add the eggs and vegetable oil, and mix until fully blended.
• Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple and cherries.
• Bake for 30 minutes, following the cake mix instructions for a bundt pan, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool the cake for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges and inner ring of the pan. Invert onto a serving plate and slice between pineapple rings to serve.
• Tip.
• When you add the reserved pineapple juice and milk in step 4, they should equal 1 cup of liquid. If you like, you can first pour the reserved pineapple juice into a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk until you have 1 cup of liquid. Add the liquid to the combined cake-and-pudding mix, then proceed with the recipe.

CHOCOLATE-PECAN UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Combine the corn syrup, 1/4 cup butter, brown sugar, and whipping cream in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture comes to a simmer (do not boil). Remove from heat; stir in pecans (mixture will be thin). Pour into a heavily buttered Bundt pan. Set aside.
• Place chocolate in the top of a double boiler; bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook until the chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
• Beat the remainging 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp butter at medium speed of an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until soft and creamy. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar, beating at medium speed for 5 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved melted chocolate, egg yolks, and vanilla, beating well.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition.
• Beat egg whites in a small bowl at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold beaten egg white into the batter. Spoon batter over the pecan mixture in the pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Loosen cake from the sides of the pan, using a narrow metal spatula. Immediately invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm with whipped cream.

CHERRY-CHOCOLATE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoons water in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet; stir until the mixture looks like wet sand. Cook over medium-high heat, gently swirling the pan occasionally but not stirring, until light amber, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Toss the cherries with the lemon juice and arrange over the caramel; set the skillet aside.
• Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and the remaining 1 cup sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low; add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter over the cherries and spread evenly.
• Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. (Cover loosely with foil if the cake is browning too quickly.) Let sit 15 minutes, then invert onto a platter and let cool completely.

PINEAPPLE-CHERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Put 1/2 cup butter into a 9x13-inch cake pan and heat in the preheated oven until melted. Remove from oven and brush sides of pan with some of the melted butter.
• Evenly sprinkle brown sugar over the melted butter in the pan. Place pineapple rings on top of the sugar-butter layer. Place maraschino cherries in the middle of the pineapple rings and decorate in between as desired. Reserve 1/2 cup crushed pineapple and fill the gaps with remaining crushed pineapple to completely cover the pan. Drain the reserved crushed pineapple very well.
• Combine cake mix, 1 cup pineapple juice, eggs, and 1/2 cup melted butter in a large bowl; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in rum and the reserved 1/2 cup crushed pineapple. Stir to thoroughly combine. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, making sure not to push all the way through the bottom of the cake, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Remove cake from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edge of the pan to thoroughly loosen it from the sides. Let cool in pan for a few minutes. Place serving platter upside-down over the pan while cake is still warm and, holding both together, flip over and leave pan on for a couple minutes. Slowly and carefully lift cake pan from cake.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE WITH PECANS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make the topping: In an oven-safe 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and salt, and whisk until the brown sugar melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Let cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly, about 1 minute longer. (Don't walk away or the mixture may burn.) The mixture will clump and separate, but that's OK.
• Add fruit and nuts, gently tossing to coat with the caramel. Remove from heat and arrange fruit into an even layer on bottom of skillet. Ignore any sugar clumps; they will dissolve during baking.
• Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until well mixed. Sprinkle in baking powder, baking soda and salt into the batter, one at a time, and whisking vigorously after each addition. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy, but that's OK. Don't overmix. Scrape batter into the skillet over the fruit and spread evenly.
• Bake until surface is deeply browned all over (with darker brown edges) and the fruit is lightly bubbling along the sides of the skillet, about 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out clean.
• Once the cake is out of the oven, immediately run a butter knife or offset spatula along the edge of the skillet. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully invert cake into serving platter. If some fruit or nuts stick to bottom of the skillet, gently remove them using offset spatula or knife and place back onto cake. Let cake cool until the fruit topping sets, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, before serving. Cake is best served on the day it is baked.

CHOCOLATE PINEAPPLE-CHERRY-PECAN UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Grease and flour a bundt pan. Lay pineapple slices in bottom of pan (mine held six slices), then put a maraschino cherry in the middle of each slice.
• Roughly chop the remaining pineapple slices.
• Combine cake mix, extract, eggs and vegetable oil with mixer, until all cake mix is somewhat moist. Fold in, by hand, the pie filling, chopped pineapple and pecans.
• Spoon batter evenly over the pineapple slices in bundt pan. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
• Let cool slightly in pan then invert cake onto a platter.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• For the topping, beat 50g softened butter and 50g light soft brown sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20cm round cake tin. Arrange 7 pineapple rings on top (reserving the syrup for later), then place 7 glacé cherries in the centres of the rings.
• Place 100g softened butter, 100g golden caster sugar, 100g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 eggs in a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the reserved pineapple syrup. Using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency.
• Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it's level. Bake for 35 mins. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

PEACHY PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a 13X9 inch pan, melt butter in oven.
• Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.
• Place maraschino cherry in center of each peach half; place cut side down on the brown sugar (cherries will be on the bottom).
• Spoon pineapple around peaches.
• Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 1/4 cups (I used pineapple juice and fruit juice out of the peach cans!).
• In a large bowl, beat cake mix, juice mixture, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on med speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over peaches and pineapple.
• Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is VERY DARK GOLDEN BROWN.
• Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down on pan; turn pan and plate over. Leave pan over cake 1 minute so topping can drizzle over cake.
• Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

CHOCOLATE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a small saucepan, heat water and butter until butter is melted. Stir in brown sugar; mix well. Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with coconut, chocolate chips, pecans and marshmallows., Prepare cake batter according to package directions; carefully pour over marshmallows. Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before inverting cake onto a serving plate.

PINEAPPLE & CHERRY UPSIDE-DOWN SANDWICH CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm round cake tins and line bases and sides with baking parchment. Scatter the 2 tbsp caster sugar in the base of one of the tins. Drain the pineapple over a bowl to catch the juices. Measure 100ml of juice into a big mixing bowl. Pat dry 3 pineapple rings with kitchen paper and halve horizontally. Arrange in the sugared tin, then add the glacé cherries.
• Add the melted butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla and eggs to the pineapple juice, and beat with an electric whisk until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins - it should be runny enough to pour over the pineapple to cover. Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Leave for 5 mins, then turn out the cakes onto a wire rack (pineapple-side up), peel off the parchment and cool.
• Spread the jam over the cooled sponge without the pineapple. Whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until thick, then spoon over the jam. Gently sit the pineapple sponge on top, and dust with a little icing sugar. Best eaten within 48 hours.