Pineapple Upside Down Cake! (From SCRATCH!)

The pineapple Beauty!!

For some reason while at work I decided to look for a Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe. I had a fresh pineapple sitting at home waiting to be used and thought this might be a good way to use some of it.

(of course I can always use it in smoothies or with my Juicer!!)

Then, this evening after work our neighbors called and said they were having people over to cook out. I knew time was short but I decided to put this together and start it in the oven. We were close enough that I could pop over after 45 minutes and pull it out. (And my stepson was home to keep an eye on it for me.)  So I thought why not go for it?

I wanted to use fresh pineapple and I did not want to bake with a cake mix. I had to look at a few recipes before I found this one: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

First I started by preparing the pineapple. (which is actually pretty easy!) You need a large, sharp knife.

First you slice off the top. Then, you cut down each side leaving as much pineapple as you can but making sure to get off all the outer husk.   

Then, slice the pineapple and cut out the core. A VERY small cookie cutter would work well for this. Since I couldn't find a tool that would do what I wanted, I just used the knife. (If you wanted to use canned pineapple rings they would also work very well-and would be uniform!) 

Now to make the cake. 

Ingredients:

• 
  
  1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 cups fresh pineapple - peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Now to make the cake. First, melt a stick of butter and measure out 2/3 cup of firmly packed brown sugar.

Mix the brown sugar into the melted butter. Pour that mixture into the bottom of a well buttered cake pan. (I used a round one) Press the pineapple slices onto the butter/brown sugar mixture.

For the dry ingredients mix the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

This next section is copied directly for the recipe. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in three parts alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat well after each addition. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. 

www.allrecipes.com

Here is the batter on top of the pineapples.

Here I am. (DORK!)  lol I was so excited to bring over my yummy dessert to share with friends!

Folks reactions were quite promising! I didn't have a cherry to put into each pineapple ring but noone seemed to care!  And I can report that the cake is 100% GONE! I got only one slice!  There was one slice left when we left but we brought that home so Calvin could eat it. After all, he kept an eye on the oven for me!  :)

Overall, it was a GREAT first Upside Down Cake from scratch. :)

I think the next time I have a party or event to go to I will make another one!!