Good Pineapple-Upside Down cake recipe?!
Good Pineapple-Upside Down cake recipe?
We're having a bosses day lunch with a carribean theme and I thought I would bring a pineapple upside down cake. Never made one before and can't find a recipe online. To all the great chefs out there...HELP?!?
Answers: My recipe is the same as the others except, I use crushed pinapple and no cherries. Brown the pineapple,butter and brown sugar in an iron skillet and then use a yellow cake mix. Mix it according to the directions and then pour it into the skillet over the pineapple mixture and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Hope it turns out good!! PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
Place the butter and brown sugar in a frying pan and melt until it boils or bubbles. A cast iron pan works well because it's heavy and will be less likely to scorch.
1 can pineapple slices
maraschino cherries (enough to fill centers of pineapples)
Place pineapples in the butter and sugar mixture. Put cherries in the center of the pineapple. Cut the slices of pineapple into halves and line the sides of the frying pan with them (standing up on edge).
Prepare a box of yellow cake mix following the directions on the box to mix the batter (do not bake in a separate pan; follow instructions below).
Pour the batter over the pineapple and cherries.
Bake at 350°F degrees. When the cake is done, loosen the edges with a butter knife. Remove from heat and allow to sit five minutes, then turn it upside down on a serving dish.
Optional: Instead of using a cake mix, you can prepare the batter from scratch using the recipe below, or any recipe for yellow cake.
Scratch Cake:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
Combine ingredients and beat 1 minute. Pour batter over pineapples and cherries (same as above). Bake at 350°F and follow same steps as above Duncan Hines makes a pineapple upside-down cake in a box. You have to buy butter, brown sugar and pineapple rings -- and marachino cherries are optional. The box gives directions for baking the cake mix as a pineapple upside-down cake. It is light and fluffy and full of flavor. Most people think my cake is home-made, but it's not. ;-) ingredients
For topping
1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
For batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 to 3 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake
Special equipment: a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet
preparationPreheat oven to 350°F.
Make topping:
Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.
Make batter:
Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)
Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand in skillet 5 minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.
Serve cake just warm or at room temperature.
Cooks' notes:
? Some of the food editors found 3 teaspoons of cardamom to be too much, but others loved the intense flavor.
? Cake may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Serves 8 Pineapple upside-down cake is really simple. Buy one 'yellow cake mix' and mix it according to directions. Use a 9X13" pan. On the bottom of the pan, lay the 'pineapple rings' out, and put a maraschino cherry in each 'hole' and each 'corner' of the rings (they aren't square, so where they 'dont meet' is a 'corner') Then put in some 'loose' brown sugar to 'cover' but not too thickly. Add a 'small pat' of butter every 4 inches. Then CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY pour the cake batter over it, and 'bake' according to directions. When it's out of the oven, you may just 'serve as is' and turn each piece over so the 'pineapple' is on top, or you may 'turn the whole cake over' and put that on your tray for presentation.
It's a really 'good recipe' ... and once you've made one, you may 'experiment' ... try using pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and even prunes, and also using a thick sweet 'liqueur' instead of the sugar and butter! YUM! You can use a yellow cake mix if you wish, get a can of pineapple rings. Reduce the liquid added to the cake and replace it with the pineapple juice, you may also, for variety, add one or two rings chopped up to your mix, but let them drain of their liquid first on paper towels. Butter or grease your baking pan. Place your pineapple rings in, in the middle of each ring place a maraschino cherry, and put some brown sugar all around the pineapple slices so that the top surface with be topped with it, then pour you batter in and cook as directed. Let cool. If something sticks when you turn it out just put it back on top but if you butter well it should come out well.....good luck. the easiest recipe i know is using a boxed yellow cake mix, 2/3 c brown sugar and 2/3 cup butter
melt the butter and pour it in the cake pan with the brown sugar. put your pineapple, pecans, cherries, in the butter/sugar mixture, mix cake mix in separate bowl, pour over fruit mixture and bake according to directions on box. It saves a littel time and comes out awesome. I've made this a few times and it's really good. You can make it with either canned or fresh pineapple which makes it convenient:
For the cake:
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
For the topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 to 6 slices fresh pineapple, cored, or 1 cup drained
pineapple chunks
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-1/2 or 10 inch cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt three times and set aside.
3. Melt the 3 tablespoons butter in the pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Sprinkle in the brown sugar and press down in an even layer. Arrange the pineapple in an even layer on top of the sugar, breaking up the pieces if necessary.
4. Make the topping. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat at high speed while you gradually add the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed, slowly add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Beat until smooth.
5. Spread the batter over the pineapple. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Using oven mitts, reverse the pan onto a large serving plate and allow the cake to cool before serving (it can be served warm but not hot.) If you wish, serve with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or coconut sorbet. go to foodnetwork.com, click on Paula Deen...i saw her make one once on her show, and her recipes are VERY VERY easy, with little trouble!!! also, Sandra Lee "Semi-homemade" who is also on foodnetwork.com, has very good homemade tasting recipes that are super easy as well
GOOD LUCK!!!