FRESH PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

I'm not sure WHY I've never thought of making a pineapple upside-down cake with FRESH pineapple before. Maybe it is because ALL of my cookbooks suggest canned pineapple? Maybe it is because canned pineapple is always in the pantry? Maybe it is because I'm not very adventurous? Well, this cake came about due to the rare combination of... "I want to bake something" + "what can I do with this very ripe pineapple?" + "the perfect window of time". 

The end result was this pineapple upside-down cake made with FRESH pineapple and it was delicious!! The difference is like night and day!!

 

Preheat your oven to 350 and cut a parchment paper liner for the bottom of a 9" round cake pan. Spray the pan and parchment paper with a light coating of cooking spray. The parchment paper is not absolutely necessary, but it helps if you have a "sticking" issue with the sweet pineapple glaze (you can use waxed paper in a pinch).

5 tablespoons of melted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
3 cups fresh pineapple cut into 1" cubes (see note)
maraschino cherries cut in half
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup pineapple juice (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon butter extract
1/2 cup pecans chopped medium-small

Mix melted butter with brown sugar and spread evenly in prepared 9" round cake pan. Set aside.

Cut pineapple into 1" chunks and blot them dry between several thicknesses of paper towel (press on them a little to extract excess juice).

For the batter, cream the butter and sugar until it is really fluffy. Under-beating the butter at this stage will give you a poor quality cake. When it is nice and fluffy, add the eggs (one at a time) and extracts and beat until its fluffy again.

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternately with the pineapple juice (or milk) starting and ending with the flour. Set aside.

Assembly: Nestle the pineapple, pecans and cherry pieces down into the brown sugar mixture in the cake pan (arrange in pretty fashion because this will show). Pour the cake batter over the top and very gently spread it out.

Bake in 350 oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean (my oven takes exactly 45 minutes). Remove from oven and sit pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, run a thin bladed knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto a serving plate and peel off the parchment paper. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: Traditionally, pineapple upside-down cake has pretty rings of pineapple with red cherries in the center of each ring. However, when the cake is baked like that, it is hard to eat. You either get a big unmanageable hunk of pineapple on your piece of cake or no pineapple at all (does that make sense?). Instead, I cut the pineapple into very small pieces (almost a dice) and arrange the cherries randomly over the cake. It is much easier to cut, serve and eat (even if it ISN'T traditional). If you use this diced pineapple style, it only takes two cups of diced fruit instead of three.

APPLE SNACKING CAKE

This old fashioned, super moist, snack cake is quick, easy and only takes ONE apple!! It is the PERFECT snacking cake and goes wonderfully in a lunch box.

 

 

1/3 cup brown sugar lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter (room temperature)

2 eggs

1  1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1  1/2 cups flour

1  3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 large apple

 

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan.

 

Core and peel the apple then pulse it in the food processor a few times until the pieces are about the size of a green pea.

 

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and set aside. 

 

Beat white sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy; beat in eggs, one at a time; add vanilla, flour and baking powder and beat until smooth, then stir in the milk and chopped apples, until the batter is well mixed.

 

Place 1/3 of the batter in the loaf pan and top with 1/3 of the sugar-cinnamon mixture; do that two more times, ending with sugar cinnamon.

 

Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes (my electric oven takes 40 minutes) or until toothpick tests clean.

 

Let cake cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out on a rack to cool.

 

This snacking cake definitely does NOT need any frosting, ENJOY!!







CINNAMON ROLL CAKE (5 STAR!!)

Oh my goodness, this cake is beyond perfect. It has that wonderful taste that you only find in the "center part" of a good cinnamon roll (does that make sense?). The first time I tried it, I was compelled to close my eyes and savor it in complete silence...it was THAT good.

The cake is quick and easy to make and it is one of those great recipes that tastes good (even better) on day two and three (if it lasts that long).It would be a big crowd-pleaser for ANY occasion.
 

 

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 TABLESPOON baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco (see note)

Put the above ingredients in the food processor and process until the mixture looks sort of like wet-ish sand. Remove from food processor and place in mixing bowl.

To the above mixture, add:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 whole large eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix everything just until smooth, do not over mix. I did this with an electric mixer on low.

In a different small bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, set aside.

Grease and flour a 9" x 13" GLASS baking dish. Put half of the cake batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle it with 2/3 of the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture, then top with the other half of the cake batter. Gently swirl a small knife through the batter, making sure that you don't scrape the bottom of the pan.

Sprinkle the top of the 2nd layer with the final 1/3 of the brown sugar-cinnamon.

 

 

 

Bake in a preheated 325° oven (yes, that is 325°) for 50 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean (don't over bake).

Remove from oven and let the cake sit for 15 minutes, then drizzle frosting glaze over the top of the hot cake (leave the cake in the pan).

GLAZE

2 cups confectioners sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Whisk till smooth and drizzle over hot cake.

Keep this cake in the baking dish, just make sure you cover it tightly with plastic wrap AFTER it is completely cooled.

This cake is beyond moist and delicious on day two and three.

NOTE: The recipe calls for butter flavored Crisco; I have no idea how the batter/cake would turn out if you used something else, (sorry).