Channeling Summer!

with Pineapple Upside Down Cake!!!

My parents were in Maui for a month! (lucky…..)  While they were away, I talked to my mom on the phone and she told me about the most wonderful Pineapple Upside Down Cake her friend made her.   I had to try it!

The recipe comes from one of our favorite restaurants in Maui- The Hali’imaile General Store.

I made this cake for the second-to-last Project Runway night at my house.  It was pretty simple to whip up and sooo scrumptious!  I had to give  away leftovers because I was too afraid to have that caramel beauty resting innocently on my kitchen counter.  You’ll see what I mean if you make it….

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Beverly Gannon’s Recipe)

For the Cake:

• 2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar  (original recipe called for 2 cups which made it way too sweet my mom said)
• 5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

Caramel Pineapple Topping:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
•  1 fresh pineapple cored and sliced (or 12 slices of canned pineapple rings)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

To prepare cake batter: Sift all dry ingredients together.  Combine milk, egg yolks and vanilla.  Soften butter to room temperature.  In a mixer, add butter to dry ingredients and mix slightly.  Scrap the sides of the bowl and continue to mix.  Gradually add the egg yolk mixture.  Mix until smooth.

To prepare the caramel:  Melt butter to boiling.  Add sugar.  Mix until smooth and mixture is a light brown color.

Cut 12 slices of pineapple (or use canned slices like I did).  Pour the caramel mixture in an ungreased 12″x3″ round metal pan.  Layer the slices of pineapple on top of the caramel.  Next, pour the cake batter on top of the caramel and pineapple slices.  Leave about 1″ of room at the top of the pan to allow the cake to rise.  Bake for 35 minutes. Rotate and continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until center is cooked.  Let rest in the pan for 15 minutes.  Invert slowly on the plate you intend to serve in on.  DIG IN!

This recipe makes one cake.  I didn’t have a 12″x 3″ pan, so I used a 9″x 3.”  I used about 3/4 of the caramel and 3/4 of the cake batter and it seemed to work fine.  You will also notice that I only used 7 of the pineapple slices.  I think the next time I make this (which is soon) I will try using a rectangular pan or a square pan.  The slices might look even better if they are perfect little squares.

I topped each slice with a little dose of Häagen-Dazs vanilla bean ice cream.  Joyous!

The cake is a perfect combo of dense and fluffy!  It’s the baking powder that does it!  Hope you love it too…and I hope that you get to channel some summer in your home.