Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Of my two daughters, Cherlin (the youngest) is the one who shows more interest in  both cooking and baking. Whenever she's at home, you'll see her helping me in the kitchen --- preparing/measuring/passing the ingredients, cracking eggsmixing, stirring, sauteing and even slicing and chopping vegetables. Instead of reading story books, she prefers spending time looking at cookbooks and devouring its pages. Honestly, I am fine with that. I remember I was like her when I was little. The only difference is that, my mom didn't have as much cookbooks as I have now...and the cookbooks she had that time didn't have as much photos and were in black & white. :) 

Last Monday, I saw her looking into my Goldilocks Bakebook. She was so quiet and seemed so engrossed flipping through the pages when out of the blue, she burst out "Hmmmm...I want to make this, mommy!". I was kinda surprised to see that she was referring to a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. She doesn't even like pineapple...she says it makes her tongue itchy, and now she wants to bake a Pineapple Cake??! I knew she hates pineapple and I was sure it's just the photo that she found appealing...so I asked her several times if she really wants it, and she kept saying YES. Well, I can't blame her --- the photo was mouthwatering indeed! To cut the story short, I gave in to her request. Yesterday, when she got home from school, we baked a Pineapple Upside Down Cake together...and this is how it turned out...
Does it look delicious to you? Well, it really is! And Cherlin (as well as the hubs and my eldest daughter) said, it looks even better than the one in the Goldilocks Cookbook. :) 

What do you think? 

I actually followed the exact recipe for the cake. We loved that it turned out so soft and moist. The only different thing I did was to use fresh pineapple instead of canned, and caramelized it before baking. Oh, there's one more thing...we didn't have cherries so we just used dried cranberries. But let me point out that this cake will taste amazing even without cherries or cranberries...it's just for added color. :)

I'm really glad that I gave in to Cherlin's request of baking this cake! Not only did we have a great bonding time, I also got to find the best Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe! I have tried a number of recipes for this classic cake. None were as perfect as this one. My aspiring chef who used to hate pineapple agreed! She even said this is her new favorite cake! (^o^)

Try it yourself and let me know what you think...


Yield one 9" round cake

Ingredients:
For the caramelized pineapple:

  • 1 medium sized pineapple
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
For the cake:
  • 1¾ cake flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup evaporated milk
  • ¼ cup cold water
  • dried cranberries, for topping (optional)

Instructions:
For the caramelized pineapple:
1. Peel and core the pineapple, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. I used pineapple corer/ slicer, which cores and slices an entire pineapple.
2. Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, without stirring, for about 3 minutes or until bubbles start to appear and you see dark color syrup around the edge of the pan. Swirl the saucepan in a circular motion so the sugar caramelizes evenly. Keep swirling gently until the caramel is medium golden brown. Turn down the heat to the low and whisk in the 4 Tbsp. butter.
3. Add the pineapple and gently stir to cover with syrup. (You will notice that the syrup will harden after adding the pineapple...but it will be liquidy again.) Simmer for 10 minutes or until the pineapple slices turn golden brown. Transfer and arrange pineapple slices to a slightly greased 9" round baking pan. Continue to simmer syrup for about 3 minutes more or until thick. Pour on top of the pineapple slices. Arrange dried cranberries in the center of the pineapple slices. (optional) Set aside.
For the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, sift all dry ingredients and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar at medium spped until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla extract, evaporated milk and water. Continue mixing for about 1 1/2 minutes or until all ingredients are well blended. Turn speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Increase the speed to medium and mix for another 1 1/2 minutes. 
2. Pour batter into pan with caramelized pineapple. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to completely cool down. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and then invert the cake onto a serving plate.

19 comments:

  1. Amazing and lvoely clicks..so tempting..love to take a slice from u :) So niceeeeee and lovely pineapple tool :)

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  2. This is really nice and it's one of my favorites. This is a must share. thank you, Tina!

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  3. That is yummy cake Tina, Glad to know that your daughter love cooking, yes this cake is pretty too. I am afraid make this as my hubby will say it is sugar overload. I will try a smaller version.

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  4. HI Tina, your pineapple cake look sooo luscious and beautiful. The texture look so good, very cottony. I like the pineapple tool. :)
    Nice click.

    Have a nice day.

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  5. YES this looks delicious! I love that you used fresh pineapple not canned. My mouth is watering! YUMMY~!

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  6. hi tina. this reminds me of a resto in Calapan - Nipa Hut. we used to go there when i was a kid and i remember eating this kind of cake.thanks.

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  7. Oh my your daughter is a real foodie. Only foodies enjoy reading a cookbook. I remember my sisters used to find it weird that I like reading cookbooks.

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  8. Beautiful cake Tina! I haven't made upside pineapple cake since long and your post reminds me to revisit this cake in my kitchen.

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  9. Your cake looks even better than the one in the book :)

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  10. That i so nice that she show much interest on cooking, she gonna grew up a good baker and cook just like you. this cake just look so yummy. I'm gonna give this a shot soon..:)Thanks for sharing the recipe

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  11. Wow Tina its great to have an aspiring chef at home they are great help. I love the cake as for the device to core and slice pineapples its amazing. Never has seen or heard of one before.

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  12. Nice to have a daughter that enjoys cooking/baking...the upside down pineapple cake looks fabulous...I would love to have a slice of this cake.
    Have a lovely weekend Tina :)

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  13. Wow I really want to bake this very soon

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  14. hello po, I really wanted to perfect this recipe but every time I do it, the cake turns out to be have a thick and heavy texture po and when I pour the batter ung syrup po ng ooverflow sa batter.. thank you so much po

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    1. I got this recipe from Goldilocks Bakebook and it always works fine for me, so I can't say what goes wrong when you're doing it. Regarding the syrup, I think you're not doing it thick enough that's why it mixes with the batter. Just cook the syrup longer until you achieve a thick consistency.

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  15. Hi Tina,

    Am trying to make mamon with butter, but the result of the batter not spongy as expected, i just put the butter on top of the mamon while waiting to cool down, can u suggest what am gonna do?

    This my Ingredients:
    1 cup of presifted flour
    1 cup sugar
    1/2 vege oil
    2 tsp of lemon juice
    6 eggs egg yolk separated from white
    1 tsp cream of tartar
    1 tsp baking powder

    Thanks
    anna

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    Replies
    1. Hi Anna,

      I guess the vegetable oil is causing your problem. You see, if you want to achieve a spongy texture, there should be very little fat content in your batter.
      Have you tried following the recipe here on PiTCC? Maybe it will work better for you. Check it out!

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  16. You have introduced me to your corer/slicer. That makes life so much easier!

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