Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe

 

I have always loved baking. Started baking from the time I was 14 when my dad gifted me a small Bajaj OTG on my birthday. Since then I have baked a wide variety of cakes. Some soft, supple, and airy. Also some burnt black messes that the dog refused to eat.

Now my main impulse for baking is to suprise the husband-man and my six-year old S with a lovely sweet treat in the midst of a hectic work day.

I got the inspiration for this delicious pineapple-upside down cake from Sailu's Network. She had a wonderful recipe for this simple-to-make cake. However, I did not have brown sugar at hand and all the stores near my house disappointed me.

Finally, I found a simpler version on Nigella Lawson's website.

I just tweaked it a little to suit my requirements. Also, I used pieces of fresh pineapple, because pineapple is abundantly available in Kolkata during the monsoons. Lucky me!

Here is my version:

Ingredients:

Maida (All purpose flour): 1 and a 1/2 cup
Sugar: 3/4th cup or 1 level cup (I used 1 cup)
Eggs: 2
Baking powder: 1 and a 1/2 teaspoon
Cooking oil or butter: 1/2 cup
Toned milk: 1/4th cup
Vanilla essence: 3/4th teaspoon
A pinch of salt

For decoration:

Pieces of fresh pineapple: 8-10 pieces (Tinned pineapple can be used after draining the syrup.)
Pieces of cherries: 4-5 chopped

How I made it:

1. First beat the eggs till they are frothy. Make sure that the eggs are at room temperature. Eggs right out of the fridge are difficult to beat.
2. Add the sugar to the eggs and beat well. I used my hand blender, the mixture will have air bubbles.
3. Next add the butter/oil and milk.( Tip: Preferably use butter. It will lend a delicate flavour to this cake.)
4. Beat the wet ingredients well. (Wet ingredient: Butter + Eggs + Sugar + Milk)
5. Now sift the salt and baking powder with the maida. Add salt.
6. Now add the wet mixture gradually to the maida and fold in.
7. Mix the mixture by hand. My six-year old loves doing this part! She patiently mixes the cake batter using her little hands. :)
8. Once the mixture is mixed well, you will see air bubbles on top. If you feel that the mixture is too dry, you can add a little milk. The best way to find out if your cake batter is ready was explained by my cookery teacher in school. Just take up a little batter with a wooden spoon and pour it back into the pan. If you able to say "1, 2, 3...." before the batter completely falls in, your cake batter is ready. If the batters falls from the spoon even before you finished saying "1, 2, 3..." the batter is too runny!
9. Keep the batter in a airtight tight container and place the container in the fridge for 2 hours. This is my personal experience. Keeping the batter in the fridge makes the cake really soft and spongy.
10. After 2 hours take the batter out of the fridge.
11. Grease the cake tin with oil.
12. Sprinkle some sugar in the cake tin. Place pieces of fresh pineapple on the sugar layer. Also add pieces of cherries in between the pineapple pieces.
13. Pour the cake batter on the top of the pineapple and cherry layer.
14. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.
15. Place the cake tin in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.
16. Once the cake is done, insert a toothpick inside the cake. The toothpick will come out clean.
17. Take the cake out of the oven. Once the cake cools down a little, just cover the cake tin with a plate and turn the cake tin upside-down.
18. The cake will come out onto the plate. The pineapple and cherry layer will be on top. (Hence the name...pineapple upside down cake!)
19. Optionally, You can pop the cake in the oven and brown the surface using the grill option at the same temperature for 10 minutes.
20. You will get a wonderfully crusty cake with delightful pineapple and cherries on top. Enjoy!



Right out the oven





Have a slice!