Pineapple Upside Down Cake

How to make a pineapple upside down cake

Easy family cake recipe

It all started with a pineapple. Mr B came home from the weekly shop last week with a proud and perky pineapple. He was very pleased with his purchase, as was I! He purposefully displayed it in our fruit basket and there it sat bringing joy to our lives. But what to do with such an awesome fruit? Just to cut it up and eat it would be such a waste. This Pineapple was destined for better things.

If you follow my instagram then you will know we have been partaking in the #objectsforoutfits which was started by the awesome allthatisshe. So of course this pineapple was going to be used like a cheap pawn in our game of pineapple hats.

But beyond chopping it up and using it as a prop for Instagram photography, what is a girl to do with a juicy little number like this? Well make the famous and awesomely retro pineapple upside down cake of course.

Serves: 6-8 (6 hungry adults and one small baby finished this off in our house)
Cook Time: 1 hour plus 45 mins prep
Difficulty: Easy/Kid friendly

Equipment

23cm spring tin or solid tin. Round
Hand mixer or mixer

Ingredients

1 Pineapple, sliced into rings and cored, plus extra chunks for plugging the gaps
soft light brown sugar 2 tbsp (for pre-roasting the pineapple)
unsalted butter 115g, softened plus 50g for the tin
golden caster sugar 175g, plus 50g for the tin
glacé cherries 7, halved
eggs 3
vanilla extract 1 tsp
plain flour 225g
baking powder 2 tsp
milk 50-75ml

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the pineapple on a baking tray and cook for 10 minutes. Or until going slightly brown. I used some tin foil to catch the cooking juice, which i then set aside for later. Then add the sugar and cook for a further 10 mins. remove from the tray and put to one side to cool while you prep the other ingredients
2. Spread a thick layer of butter all over the tin, base and side. And then sprinkle with golden caster sugar. Any excess sugar can be sprinkled on the bottom. This will add to the caramel when cooking
3. Arrange the cooled pineapple on the base. I put a few whole pieces in then plug any holes with cherries and chunks. I like to get the pieces in there reasonably tight to hold the shape when turned out.
4. Make the cake mixture. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add each egg one at a time, beating well in between to avoid splitting. then add the vanilla paste.
5. Add a few spoonfuls of flour and baking powder into the mixture before adding the rest, to avoid losing the air. Then add a pinch of salt and the milk and keep whisking until you have a light silky batter mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture over the pineapple and smooth the top down with the back of the spoon.
7. Place on the middle shelf for 50-1 hour or until golden brown. Remember to put a tray underneath if you have used a sprung cake tin to catch any caramel drips
8. Remove from oven and prepare your cream or custard, because the baby is best eaten hot straight from the oven. After 5 mins you can turn out onto a plat (hold the plate on top firmly with two hands and flip over quickly) it should come away easy as the pineapple is so juicy
9. Drizzle over the reserved pineapple juice from earlier and serve

I can be made with a rum source for extra retro points, but that would make it slightly more adult friendly. Also if you don’t want to peel slice and core a fresh pineapple it could easily be made with tinned pineapple for a great store cupboard pud/rainy day activity bake.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and if you have any feedback please comment below

#homewiththebuckleys