Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Pan Preparation
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pineapple, sliced (canned)
Maraschino cherries
Pecan halves
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake Batter
2 eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons pineapple juice from fruit
1 cup sifted Gold Medal flour or Softasilk
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Prepare the pan: melt butter in heavy cast iron skillet or baking dish. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange drained slices of pineapple over butter-sugar coating, and garnish well with maraschino cherries and pecan halves in the spaces.

Cake Batter: Beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored (5 minutes). Gradually beat in sugar. Add pineapple juice and vanilla extract.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and beat into mixture all at once. Pour batter over fruit and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until wooden pick thrust into center of cake comes out clean. Immediately turn upside-down on serving plate. Do not remove pan for a few minutes; brown sugar mixture will run down over cake instead of clinging to pan.

Serve warm, plain, or with whipped cream.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapple
1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 egg

Place butter and brown sugar in the oven and stir until well mixed. Place the pineapple slices in the butter and sugar mixture in the bottom of the oven.

In a separate bowl, mix the cake mix and the egg. Pour this batter over the pineapple in the oven, then put the lid on the oven and bake about 30-40 minutes. Test the cade for doneness with a straw or wooden pick.

When the cake is done, remove the coals from the oven, remove the lid and let the oven cool for about 10 minutes. Using a large cutting board or a piece of cardboard, covered with wax paper, hold the board on top of the oven and invert the oven quickly. This will allow the cake to fall on the board and the pineapple will be on the top. A safer way to support the cake when you invert it is to cut the cardboard in a round piece the same size as the cake, and it will fit inside oven on the cake; then when the oven is inverted, the cardboard can be held directly under the cake.

This serves about 8.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

1 (16 ounce) box pound cake mix
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
6 to 8 maraschino cherries, halved

Mix cake mix according to package directions, using pineapple juice for part of the liquid. Melt butter in lightly greased bake pan. Stir in brown sugar and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Add pineapples and cherries. Pour in cake batter. Cover bake pan. Place into crockpot. Bake in covered crockpot on HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Remove and invert immediately onto a large platter.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

35% calorie reduction from traditional recipe

8 slices canned pineapple in juice, undrained
1 tablespoon stick butter or margarine, melted
1 tablespoon reserved pineapple juice
1/4 cup Equal

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Source: Bette Hagman and Carol Fenster, as presented at a cooking class at the national conference of the Gluten Intolerance Group in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 2002

3/4 cup brown sugar or maple sugar
2 tablespoons water or pineapple juice
1 small can pineapple slices, drained
1 cup garbanzo/fava bean flour or sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch or cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dairy-free margarine or 1/2 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup soft silken tofu
Grated peel of 1 lemon
1/2 cup boiling water
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In 10-inch cast iron skillet sprayed with cooking spray, combine sugar and water. Bring to simmer over low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Cook for another minutes, gently swirling pan if sugar is coloring unevenly. Remove from heat. Let cool 10 minutes. Mixture will firm slightly as it cools.

Arrange pineapple evenly in caramel. Set aside.

Sift together flours, xanthan gum, ,baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In food processor or with electric mixer, cream together sugar, butter (at room temperature), vanilla extract, tofu and lemon peel. Process or beat on high until completely smooth and glossy. Add boiling water and process until completely mixed. Add flour mixture and process until smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula, if necessary. Spoon batter gently over pineapple in skillet. Bake about 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Loosen edges with a knife. To invert cake onto a serving plate, place plate top down over skillet. Wearing oven mitts on both hands, hold plate and skillet together and flip so plate is on bottom and skillet is on top. Remove skillet. Cool to room temperature.

Makes 12 servings.