What's Baking: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

It was D's birthday earlier this week, and he requested a pineapple upside down cake for his special day. I searched through a variety of recipes before settling on one from Smitten Kitchen. Since Deb's recipes never let me down, I felt pretty confidant that this cake recipe would be no different from the rest. I have to admit I was kind of hoping to find some fresh pineapple rings in the produce section of one of our grocery stores, but to no avail. I knew that canned pineapple would just not do, so for the first time in my life, I bought a whole pineapple. (Wild and crazy, I know!)

So, step one of baking my cake was searching YouTube for videos instructing how to slice a whole pineapple into rings, since I don't have one of those fancy pineapple coring/slicing tools. The process was actually fairly simple -- cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, then carefully slice off the eyes. Then cut the pineapple into circles, and either use an apple corer, a (very) small round cookie cutter, or a knife, to cut the core out of each circle to form a ring.

Prepping the pineapple was the most difficult part of making this cake. (And really, cutting the pineapple wasn't really hard at all.) After that, it was just a matter of making a caramel, then making the cake batter. D requested the cake have maraschino cherries, but since only one whole pineapple ring fit on my cake, I just used one in the center pineapple ring. 

Perhaps the most nerve-wracking part of making this cake was flipping it out of the pan at the end. I was quite nervous that it would stick and my hopes for a perfect birthday cake would be ruined. (Let's just say that I have a history of birthday-cake disasters; back in our Laramie days I attempted to make D a carrot cake for his birthday; it ended up a mushy partially-baked mess -- baking at high-altitude is not easy!) Happily, the pineapple upside-down cake slid right out of the skillet without incident. 

Even more importantly, the cake turned out fabulously -- and D thoroughly enjoyed his special homemade birthday cake.  

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (printer-friendly version)

makes one 10-inch cake 

For the topping:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, sliced into 3/8-inch circles, and cored to make rings
1 (or more) maraschino cherries, optional

For the cake batter:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark spiced rum
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 - 1 tablespoon dark spiced rum for sprinkling over cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a well-seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet. Add the brown sugar, and, while stirring constantly, simmer over medium-heat until slightly darkened and bubbly, 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Place a pineapple ring in the center of the skillet, then add halved pineapple rings around the center pineapple ring (arch-side facing out, see photo). If desired, add quartered pineapple pieces around the edges of the skillet (again, see photos). Place a maraschino cherry in the middle of the central pineapple ring, if using.
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
5. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the granulated sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla and spiced rum.
6. Add half of the flour mixture to the mixer and stir on slow speed to combine. Stir in the pineapple juice. Then beat in the rest of the flour mixture.
7. Spoon the batter evenly over top the pineapple pieces in the skillet. Bake the cake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the skillet for 5 minutes.
8. Place a plate over top the skillet, then carefully flip the skillet over, inverting the cake onto the plate. Place any pineapple pieces that stuck to the skillet back onto the cake if necessary. Sprinkle the cake with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of rum, then let cool on the plate set on a wire rack until ready to serve.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature. Any leftover cake can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)