Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Best Pineapple Upside Cake recipe you'll ever need

This is like eating a slice of fresh pineapple. I bake mine in a 9x13 pan because I have a Tupperware container that fits it perfectly. You will love it, trust me.

My Mother's Table Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Glaze
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 - 20 oz cans of crushed pineapple (drained, reserve liquid)
12 maraschino cherries

Cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup reserved pineapple juice
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 large eggs, slightly beaten, room temperature

Heat oven to 350 degrees. It doesn't hurt to spray the baking pan, even though there is butter in the recipe. Every little bit helps.

To make the glaze
Place butter in 9x13 pan and place in oven just until butter is melted. Remove from oven, tip pan so butter covers pan. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter, then spread pineapple. Add cherries (they should be pressed down in order to touch bottom of pan so they show when you turn out the cake.) Set aside while you make the cake.

Making the cake
Mix together sugar, flour and baking soda until combined. In a small sauce pan, bring butter and reserved pineapple juice to a boil. Cool 5 minutes. Add slowly to the flour mixture. Mix well. With mixture running on slow, add buttermilk, vanilla and eggs. Mix just until combined. Pour over pineapple in cake pan. Drop pan on on counter once or twice to remove bubbles. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until top feels firm (depending on your oven, I'd check the cake after 30 minutes just to be sure. You can always bake longer but you can't take it back if you over bake.) When done, remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges, then flip cake on a serving dish.

This cake serves 12 people, but it's very rich yet refreshing. So in my home, we get at least 18 servings. If you take it to a pot luck, it will go very fast!