Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Again, this is a Paula Deen recipe. I will print the entire recipe and will give you my changes below the recipe.



Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
3 cups cake flour, plus more for pan
1 cup butter, softened, plus 1/2 cup, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole buttermilk
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple slices in juice, drained well (reserve 2 tablespoons juice for frosting)
1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained well
Pineapple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows
Chopped pecans, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour.

In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.

In a small bowl, add the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the brown sugar evenly into each pan. Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar. Reserve remaining pineapple slices and cherries for another use.

Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.

To assemble the cake, carefully arrange 1 cake layer, pineapple side up, on a cake plate. Carefully stack the remaining cake layer, pineapple side up, over the first layer. Frost the sides of the cake with Pineapple Buttercream Frosting. Press chopped pecans into sides of cake, if desired.

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting:


1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Beat all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.

Yield: about 2 cups

SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS

First of all, I did not use the pineapple buttercream frosting. I love Pineapple Upside Down Cake and my first thought was that it did not need a frosting. So, I decided to skip it. Also, I did not use pecans to garnish it.

I also added a small bit of pineapple juice to the cake batter to give the cake a little more flavor. I also put a cookie sheet on the second layer to catch any spillover from the cake.

This got some rave reviews :) In fact, one of the recipients was a baker for 6 years and said it was delicious :) I admit, he had my nervous knowing that he was going to possibly taste it because his skill intimidates me! Another person said she was shocked that it was the first one I ever made! So, definitely a success. A little messy to make, but I would make it again!