Not Your Everyday Pineapple Upside Down Cake

By Lu

A slice of Pineapple Upside Down Cake, piping hot from the oven!

I've been making this cake for as long as I could remember. I didn't really remember where I got the recipe at first. I believe it was from this make-shift recipe compilation "cookbook" bound by a twine that was given to me by my high school/early college boyfriend's grandmother. I think she gave it to me when we helped her move residence one year when I was a freshman in college. She had some stuff to throw away but I took that book. It has some very good recipes.
Later on, I also found a similar recipe in a book called "365 Great Cakes and Pies." It is slightly different but it is quite the same in taste. This is not the typical yellow cake Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This version has a unique almost corn bread taste and texture to it. I love it! Plus, many of my friends actually like it too.

I was remembered (at one point) at the company I used to work for first thing out of college as the girl who baked this very cake. I made several friends for life from having worked for this company. Tricia and Tina are two of the great friends I made there. Tricia,  to this day, still asks me for this cake - among other things :D (the others being egg rolls and kim chi poo. Sorry, inside joke).

We have planned to get together today, and I happened to have leftover buttermilk from making Red Velvet Cake last week. It was totally perfect to use it up for this cake. So, I came ready with cake at hand!

Further, I happened to post the picture of the cake on Facebook to entice some of my friends I am playing "Food War" game with. Food War is a fun thing I do with my childhood friends, Chika, Peggy, Audrey, and Liza. We post pictures of food that are mouth-watering trying to get the other to break down and cry from wanting it so bad! It is a little sadistic especially for people like me, who constantly craving food from my native country and can't get them where I live. Audrey, who happens to live in Jakarta, is happily posting pictures of Indonesian delicacies that literally make me drool and keep on drooling! Man, I need to start wearing a bib!

I didn't plan for my next post to be another recipe; however, from posting the picture, I received several requests for recipe of this cake. I aim to please; so, here it is!

INGREDIENTS:

1 can of sliced pineapple
Maraschino cherries
1 cup granulated sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 large eggs (separated yolks and white)
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yellow corn meal (not corn-starch/Maizena! This is more like polenta)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit/ 175 degree Celcius. Next, start preparing the ingredients and measure them accordingly. In one bowl, put all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt,  and corn meal. Put it aside. Also measure your buttermilk and get it ready to go. Separate the yolks from the white of the eggs. Put the whites in a bowl where you can whisk or mix later on. The easiest way to separate an egg is to crack it open on the palm of your hand, and let the egg white falls through your finger and onto a bowl, leaving the yolk intact on your hand. If you don't want to get your hands dirty, my mom always crack the shell in two in the middle, and then transferring the yolk back and forth from one shell to another until all the egg white safely falls onto a bowl underneath. Your choice.

Prepare a 10 inch (+/- 25 cm) round pan for baking. Spray the side with non-stick cooking spray or grease it with melted butter. Sprinkle an even layer of brown sugar on the bottom of the pan. If you don't want it to be so sweet, you can lessen the brown sugar and don't use the whole cup and a half. If you prefer it with a thick layer of caramelized granules of brown sugar, then go nuts! Next, arrange the slices of pineapple on top of the brown sugar. Add Maraschino cherries to decorate the hole of what used to be the core of pineapple. You can also use fresh pineapple if you choose. You have to cook the fresh slices first however in a Microwave or stove top with about 1/4 cup of sugar. I think it is too much extra work, but I didn't say it can't be done. Opening up a can seems much easier, especially since we are going to bake the pineapple anyway. You can also add chopped pecans on the area where the brown sugar is not covered by the pineapple slices. However, this is totally optional. Once the pan is prepared, set it aside.

In the mixer bowl, add sugar and butter. Cream well using a medium to high speed on your electric mixer. Then add the egg yolk one by one. Mix well, and stop mixer occasionally to scrape the side of the bowl so everything will be evenly mixed. Add vanilla. Then lower the mixer speed and add flour mixture little by little alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with flour mixture. Beat well.

You have to do a fancy maneuvering with your mixer as you will need to beat the egg white in a separate clean bowl and using clean beaters. This can get cumbersome especially if you only have one of each. But it can be done! Think ahead. Don't tell me I didn't warn you. Worse come to worst, you can always use a whisk. Beat the egg white until it is stiff but not dry. Then, fold the egg white in the cake batter with a spatula. Do not stir it, fold it - scrape from the side of bowl and sweep it to the top, and repeat until it is mixed well.

Add the batter on top of the arranged pineapple slices in the pan. Bake it for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake tester (using tooth pick or skewer) inserted to the center of the cake comes out clean, and not wet anymore. With a knife, loosen cake from the edge of pan. Put a serving plate on top of pan, and immediately invert onto it. Thus, the name "Upside Down" cake came from! Oh, do not forget to use oven mitten as it will be hot! Once the cake is safely inverted, lift pan and voila! Let it cool, and then serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream!

Tina and Tricia - let them eat cake!

I think this cake is so easy to make and it tastes super scrumptious. Some people don't like corn meal texture or taste, but I think it makes this cake so unique, and not your every day Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Tina and I went to visit Tricia today at her house and she got her wish to again taste my Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Believe me, it has been years since she last had it. Though her two year old son, Brennan, was too "distracted" to eat the cake, her husband and daughter didn't! Her little angel, Ava, at first was skeptical about trying something new, but she decided to give it a go. Then, she asked for a second slice! Oh, that made my day! Brian, her husband, also had a second helping! The only thing missing is our other friend, Corinna, who lives in Tennessee. I wish she could have joined us. It is not the same without her and I think she would have enjoyed this blast from the past afternoon treat!

Cute little Ava taking a bite of the cake!

Tricia just left me a comment on Facebook: "This is my fave cake ever. Been years since I had it, but it did not let me down today. Delish! Thank you Lulu. You are so sweet to bake and bring it over."

That is one of the reasons I love to bake for my friends! It makes everything worth it. Now, go make it and enjoy!