Bringing back the retro classic!
Youll love this Pineapple Upside Down Cake with the sticky caramelised edges on the pineapple.
The ultra-moist, tender vanilla cake is studded with pineapple pieces and infused with pineapple juice.
Maraschino cherry
You cant help but smile at the sight of this cheerful-looking cake.
Give me some COLOUR!
And therein lies the exact reason I chose to share this cake today.
And this girl needs little encouragement to bring retro fun into her life!
Disco balls and flares, perms and … Apricot Chicken??
Hmm, I might pass on the Apricot Chicken!
Though as far as Aussies are concerned, they never went out of fashion.
Rarely a summer would go by without one making an appearance at a barbie at some stage!
(Thats a barbecue to you non-Aussies!)
Upside Down refers to the way the cake is made.
The cake part is a vanilla cake.
Youll see versions that are more on the pudding-like side (ie.
Maraschino cherry
quite dense and wet likesyrup-soaked cakes) and others that are quite dry sponge cakes.
Mine lies squarely in the middle.
As for that pineapple topping?
Think juicy pineapple pieces with caramelised edges, studded with sweet candied cherries.
It is literally the crowning glory of this cake!
Syrup is too sweet for our needs.
Also, we use some of the juice for the batter and we save the rest for cocktails!
The recipe calls for 600g/20oz of canned pineapple.
This is more pineapple than you better cover the surface.
So chop up leftovers and toss them into the batter!
True maraschino cherries are marinated in a cherry liqueur calledmaraschino hence the name.
These are totally fine and actually better here for their vivid colour!
Large eggs are sold in cartoons labelled as such.
Its important to ensure the eggs are at room temperature before using in cakes to ensure they incorporate fully.
Fridge-cold eggs added into a batter with butter in it can cause the butter to solidify spelling disaster!
What is an egg at room temperature?Just take it out 30 minutes prior to using.
As long as the egg is not fridge-cold when you hold it, its fine.
Baking soda is like baking powder on steroids, it is 3x stronger.
This cake benefits from that extra boost because the batter is quite heavy.
So unfortunately, we need both!
Its not hard, I promise.
Press pineapple and cherries down firmly.
Stir through pineapple pieces Do this right at the end.
Stir just to disperse the pineapple through.
It should come out with just crumbs on it, no raw batter!
Lift the cake pan off slowly and … voila!
PRO TIP:If, when lifting off the inverted cake pan (slowly!
Prevent screen from sleeping
This will help loosen it.
But stranger things have happened in life!
This is not a very tall cake.
It stands around 4cm/ 1.6 tall using a 23cm/9 cake pan.
Also, at this height, you have a nice ratio of cake to caramelised pineapple.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake will keep for 5 days or so in the fridge.
The crumb will get a bit more soaked with those caramel pineapple juices as it sits.
But nobody complains, thats for sure!
Nagi x
PS.Thisis what I was listening to as I was typing up this post.
Just in case you also want to get into the retro spirit.
