Pineapple upside-down cake
I had a desire to throw together a tasty dessert rather quickly this evening. Our neighbour was coming to help out with a small study, and I wanted to have something to serve him (all those years of my mother sending cakes and providing goodies for guests must have become engrained). My mother's recipe for pineapple upside-down cake, which I'd been hankering to make for awhile now, proved to be just the ticket.
Recipe
1 can Dole sliced pineapple1/4 cup butter2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed1 cup all-purpose flour3/4 cup granulated sugar1-1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp salt1/4 cup shortening1/2 cup milk1 eggpecan halvesPreheat oven to 350 F. Drain pineapple slices, reserving 2 tbsp syrup. In a skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar, stirring until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and pour into 10" round cake pan. Arrange pineapple slices on sugar mixture around the edge of the pan, overlapping slices slightly. Put one slice in the center. Fill centers with pecan halves. Slice three extra pineapple slices in half and arrange around inside edge of the cake pan. Put pecans in center.In a medium bowl, sift flour with sugar, baking powder and salt. Add shortening and milk. With electric mixer, beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add egg and reserved pineapple juice and beat 2 minutes longer. Gently pour cake batter over pineapples, spreading evenly, being careful not to disarrange pineapple. Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden in colour, and surface springs back when gently pressed. Let stand for 5 minutes. Loosen cake from edge of pan, place platter or rack over cake and turn upside down, shaking gently. Lift off cake pan.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: I only have a 9.5" springform cake pan, so I used that. There was some concern when the batter didn't cover the tops of the pineapples lining the side of the pan; however, the cake did rise enough to cover them. When David flipped the cake, the pineapples seemed to have migrated a bit to one side and some of the brown sugary goodness seemed to have remained attached to the pan bottom (despite greasing it).Despite a mild case of lopsidedness, the cake was seriously tasty. Sweet, but not overly so, and moist, with a great tanginess from the pineapple. David noted it made an excellent addition to his coffee. He also claims it is making him smarter (as he toils away on multiple school assignments). The latter claim remains to be verified. =)