Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Hey, Internet! Long time no see! Life got a little busy there, and the blog took a back seat to summertime and then work-related priorities, but now that it's winter again  and the holiday season is upon us, the kitchen seems like the best (read: warmest) place to be. So here we are. 

Also, if you squint real hard at the background of some of these pictures, you can meet my new oven. The last one and I parted on less-than-friendly terms - and on Thanksgiving Eve, no less, in the middle of pre-heating for the apple pie I was supposed to bring to the family dinner. Luckily I was able to secure a back-up oven, so Thanksgiving wasn't ruined, but it was close! Anyway, the nice delivery men from Sears had my new one set up within 48 hours of the break-down, and now I have a convection option and a fifth burner, so everything ended happily enough. But I digress.

It was only a matter of time before this classic came to the kitchen. This week, I took the traditional Betty Crocker recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and gave it the 4 oz. treatment. 

First, I coated the bottom of the jars with melted butter and brown sugar, then added the fruit. My jars were a little smaller than the pineapple slices, so I cut the rings into sections and placed them in the bottom of the jars as best I could. Next time, I'll use crushed pineapple here for better coverage and an easier fit.

During this recipe, I had the rare opportunity to open a new can of baking powder. Considering this only happens once every few years, I wanted to be sure to document the occasion.

A different baker might decide to combine the dry ingredients first, then cream the shortening and sugars, add egg and vanilla, and then gradually mix in the dry ingredients; however, Betty seems to have no scruples about dumping all the ingredients into the bowl at once.

Once the batter was ready, I spooned it over the prepped jars. The original recipe was for a 9x9 cake, and I was able to easily fill one dozen 4-oz jars. In fact, I probably should have gone with more jars total and less batter in each, as you'll see presently.

They were a little scruffy after coming out of the oven, but no one sees the bottom edges anyway, so it’s ok. Next, I put a cookie sheet upside down on top of the cakes, said a prayer, and flipped all dozen of them at once.

Aaaand...it worked!

Unfortunately, my jars did not want to let go of their cakes very easily. This was the real problem that arose from them baking over the edges of the jars. I was able to coax them out one at  a time with a butter knife, but the transition definitely compromised the structural integrity of the finished product.

Admittedly, these guys aren't going to win any beauty pageants, but they’re sweet enough to make you forgive their disheveled appearance. 

In retrospect, I perhaps ought to have used Martha Stewart's version instead. Betty is more traditional, but Martha's version does feature a couple of adaptations that look appealing, like subbing vegetable oil for Betty's use of shortening and adding lime zest to the topping. 

Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients

½ cup butter or margarine (add more if necessary to prep all dozen 4-oz jars)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar (add more if necessary to prep all dozen 4-oz jars)

9 slices pineapple in juice (from 14-oz can), drained and cut into sections

12 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup shortening

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk

1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Melt butter in microwave and transfer to 4-oz jars, generously coating the bottom of each. 

Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. 

Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar, and place cherry in center of each pineapple slice.

In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Immediately place heatproof serving plate or sheet pan upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. 

Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. 

Serve warm. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream would not be a terrible companion to this dessert.

Store cake loosely covered.