Yield: 10-12 servings
Old-school Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Prep Time:
45 minutes
Cook Time:
35 minutes
Additional Time:
5 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 25 minutes
A vintage classic! Light and fluffy Pineapple upside-down cake. This is the kind my grandmother used to make. Based on a truly vintage recipe, I've modified and optimised it for today's pineapple fans! This is a different version of the Pineapple upside-down cake we now know and love. My recipe for the denser, more familiar cake can be found here.
Ingredients
Topping
- 55g (1/4 c) butter
- 50g (1/4 c) sugar
- 45g (1/4 c) brown sugar
- 7 pineapple rings (canned in juice)
- Red currants or cherries
- Handful of pecans
Step I
- 2 eggs*
- 150g (3/4 c) fine sugar
Step II
- 90ml (6 tbs) pineapple juice
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
Step III
- 175g (1 1/4 c) sifted flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder**
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
For the topping:
- Melt butter and pour into bottom of 23 cm/9 inch cake pan. Sprinkle brown and white sugar on top of butter.
- Save 60ml/ ¼ c juice from canned pineapple and set aside.
- Pat pineapple slices with paper towel to remove excess moisture, and arrange in bottom of pan. Add red fruit, and set pan aside.
- Finely chop up pecans and sprinkle around edges of the pan.
Prep:
- Preheat oven to 180° C/ 350° F.
- Measure flour and sift 3 times. Measure again, then add baking powder and salt and sift one more time. Set aside.
- Combine pineapple juice and vanilla in a measuring cup and set aside.
For the cake:
- Using an electric mixer, beat eggs at highest speed until thick and pale yellow (about 3 minutes). Add sugar, one tbs at a time, and beat until thick and fluffy (takes about 5-6 minutes -> see notes).
- Reduce speed and drizzle in pineapple juice and vanilla in a thin stream. Batter will be thin, but that's okay.
- Remove bowl from mixing stand/put mixer away. Sift 1/3 of flour mixture over batter. Using a wire whisk, gently fold into batter until flour just disappears. Continue folding in rest of flour the same way, 1/3 at a time, mixing gently until no flour traces remain.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake immediately for 35-40 minutes, or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Once cake tests done, invert immediately (see next step).
- To remove from pan: Run a knife around the cake's edges make sure it won't stick. Place plate over top of cake and flip over. Wait five minutes before removing pan, to let the syrup drip down the edges of the cake. Remove pan and serve + eat right away! Yummy with unsweetened whipped cream.
Notes
*Eggs should be at room temperature
**If using Dutch/European baking powder (the type in those little sachets), increase amount to 1 ¾ tsp. To find out why, read my post all about baking powder.
- I know sifting flour seems like an unnecessary hassle, but it's not! Okay, it might be a hassle, but it really influences the texture of the cake. So don't skip out on this step 🙂 Also, especially of you're using cups, sift flour before measuring, and then sift measured flour with baking powder and salt.
- If using an electric hand mixer, beating eggs will take 2-4 minutes longer. For best results use the beater/whisk attachment for this recipe.
- You can tell batter (eggs + sugar) is ready by dipping in a spatula and dribbling a circle on the surface. if the circle stays for 8 seconds before disappearing, it's at the right consistency.
- Whisk in flour very carefully. All those little air bubbles in the batter are crucial for a light and fluffy sponge. Too much or too hard of a whisking, could cause those bubbles to pop, resulting in a flatter cake. 🙁