Moms Best Pineapple 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 UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease the sides of a 9-by-3-inch round baking pan with cooking spray or butter.
• Make the topping: Beat the melted butter and brown sugar in a small bowl. Spread the mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan. Arrange 6 pineapple rings around the edge of the pan and 1 in the middle. Place a cherry in the middle of each ring and the rest between the rings at the edges.
• Make the cake: Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves in a large bowl. In another large bowl, beat the butter and sugar using a mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Using a spatula, alternately fold in the flour mixture and the heavy cream and reserved 1/2 cup pineapple juice until blended. Spread the batter over the pineapple slices and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a metal spatula around the edges to loosen the cake. Invert a serving plate over the cake pan and turn the cake and plate over together. Remove the cake pan and serve the cake warm with whipped cream.

LIKE MOM'S PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Use a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet or pan.
• Melt 1/4 cup of the butter over low heat in skillet, add brown sugar make sure evenly coats bottom.
• Take pan off of the heat, arrange pineapple slices on top of brown sugar.
• In a large bowl, cream other 1/4 cup of butter with the sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mix until blended. Add juice, milk if using, and vanilla. Beat until sugar is well dissolved.
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt and mix with the egg mixture until well blended.
• Pour batter into the skillet/pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
• Let cool for 10 minutes and then put plate over skillet/pan and flip over.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Topping: Melt butter in a small skillet on direct heat.
• Add brown sugar and stir until well blended and bubbly.
• Pour into a 9" square baking dish, spreading to cover the bottom.
• (Alternately, microwave butter and brown sugar in a 9" square glass baking dish till well blended and bubbly).
• Arrange pineapple spears and maraschino cherry halves on top of the brown sugar in a sun-burst pattern.
• Chill in refrigerator while preparing batter.
• Batter: Sift together flour, salt and baking powder.
• Cream shortening/butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
• At low speed, and in alternate additions, add in the flour and orange juice, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
• Beat only until smooth.
• Remove cake pan from the refrigerator and spread batter over topping.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.
• Remove from oven, let stand for 5-10 minutes.
• Invert on a plate and serve warm.

MOM'S BEST PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Use plain yogurt (or apple sauce) in place of margarine or oil, if desired.
• Melt margarine in the microwave, about 1 minute (start with 30 seconds). Spray cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. Divide melted margarine between two cake pans. Add brown sugar and stir to blend until sugar dissolves.
• Add 4 pineapple rings to each pan. Add 1 cherry to the center of each pineapple ring.
• Add pecan halves throughout pan, in between pineapple rings. Use as little or as much as you like.
• Bake at 350*F for approximately 35 to 45 minutes. If your oven cooks hot, you'll use less time, if it cooks low, you'll use more time. If your oven cooks unevenly (like mine does), about half way through baking, switch the pans around. The cakes are baked completely when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
• Cool COMPLETELY (1 to 2 hours). When cooled completely, place a platter or plate larger than the cake pan over the cooled cake. SLOWLY turn over and pop cake out onto plate or platter. TA-DAH! You have a beautiful, semi-homemade dessert!