Pineapple upside-down cake is kitschy, a throwback to far before my time (I was born in 1982). But it is also delicious, a timeless classic. Inverting the still-hot cake pan onto a serving plate and pulling the pan off is a magical moment— the cake falls out of the pan and the buttery sugary goo from the bottom oozes onto the plate. If you serve up a piece of this cake it will make the recipient smile.
This is also the cake that I make every year on December 1st for a very dear friend who is no longer with us, for his birthday. But this year I was so (understandably) distracted by losing my father that I didn’t realize the date until nearly midnight. So I baked it the next day, instead. Michael wouldn’t mind, he’d just be happy I made his cake for him. And even more pleased that I served it for dessert after a dinner that included challah and matzoh ball soup.
Upside-Down Cake (from Time Life Cakes)
Preheat oven to 375ºF
Melt in cake pan:
4 T. butter (half a stick)
1/2 c. brown sugar
stir in:
1/4 t. nutmeg
After removing from heat, arrange fruit (in this case pineapple slices) in bottom of pan.
Sift/whisk together:
1 1/3 c. cake flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 3/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
Beat in till softened:
3 T. butter
Add, beating for two minutes:
1/2 c. milk
Add, beat one more minute:
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
Bake ≈35 minutes, or until a toothpick is clean when you insert it. Let cake cool on a rack for a few minutes, then invert it over a flat serving plate with a lip, removing the pan and basking in the glow of your beautiful kitschy cake.
Notes: I skip the nutmeg when using pineapple. Instead of using cake flour (which I don’t keep in stock) I use AP; sometimes I even throw in a little whole wheat flour. It’s never been a problem. Because you are adding it to the dry ingredients, you absolutely want to use softened butter for the batter. If you’re not into pineapple, use a different fruit— plums, apricots, peaches… any stone fruit would be great. Or berries. But me, I stick to pineapple with this one.
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kneadedlove posted this
