Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
promised my Twitter friends last week that I would put this recipe on our blog, so here it is, fresh from the oven; smelling so good, cooling on its’ serving platter. This recipe has so much going for it; easy to make; looks like a million bucks, sweetly old-fashioned, with the most amazing sauce; it tastes even better than it looks. Simple to do ….
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rrange pineapple rings, dark brown sugar and walnut halves in a 9" straight-sided pan…
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hisk up the batter with pineapple juice, eggs, sugar, and vanilla….
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ift your dry ingredients…I want my cakes light, so I sift . . .
sift with waxed paper, which is the way my mom taught me, and probably her mom taught her. But I bet people do it all different ways … This is me sifting flour : How do you do it?
ix the dry ingredients with the egg batter; pour it over the fruit, and pop it in the oven.
t comes out looking like this. Immediately turn it onto your serving platter and let it cool. (Hide it, protect it, there is huge temptation to pick out the walnuts or pull the sticky brown sugar from the sides.)
eanwhile you make the sauce with cream and sugar, and an inch-long piece of vanilla bean (slit it open, scrape the seeds into the cream, and throw away the rest) — chill the sauce well in a small pitcher.
nd here it is, with its pitcher of sauce, all ready to go where it went, which was to a Memorial Day Pot Luck with all our best friends. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature; each slice in a puddle of cold sauce.
ow, here’s the RECIPE! (It’s on page 112 of my Summer Book, or just click and you can print it out.)
I just wanted to say yes, that’s the way I sift flour as well, except I don’t have a sweet sifter like that. YET.
mmmm…. yum! I have been wanting to make pineapple upside down cake for ages…
Love…love…love it!
I have the canister set that matches the flour sifter you are using!! My husband loves Pineapple Upside Down cake so I will be trying this on Father’s Day.
Welcome to bloggy land Love it Susan.
I first made this out of the ‘Summer’ book several years ago and everyone loved it!! It’s easy, delicious and now part of my cooking repertoire.
That looks like a good cake! I have the same sifter…it belonged to my Mother.
Thanks so much for posting this on my birthday(June 6). I love every recipe you share, every picture you paint, every word you write –I love everything you do! Reading your site is a mini vacation every day of the week!
Happy Birthday Melanie! Thank you for your nice words! xo Susan
I must be different because I gave up sifting a long time ago. Actually, I try to use whole wheat flour when I can and I don’t want to sift the good stuff out. Your cake looks fabulous. Love your blog & books & writing & drawing & videos & all you do!
I have a smaller sifter that sits over the measuring cup and I sift right into the cup, raise it up when it is getting full, and then take a knife to level off the top. The “crank type” like you have would be a lot easier on a person’s thumb as my thumb operates the sifter mechanism. Sometimes the newer tools aren’t as good as the older ones! When I make upside-down pineapple cake, I put half of a cherry in the center of the pineapple ring for color. Next time I make it, I will be trying your recipe for the sauce–looks naughty but good! 🙂
Pineapple is soooooo good! I even put it in Angel Food Cake !!!! Yummy !
Mmmmm Pineapple! Try the Orange Cake on my Home Cooking page, there’s a link to the recipe, it has a pineapple-orange filling to die for!
Ok…that cake looks delicious, and that sifter is cute, cute, cute!! I’m going to be baking that cake this weekend. 🙂
I made this from your book a couple of weeks ago,, then I featured it on my blog with photos of your book and yourself,,its our favorite for sure,,
Rather than throwing away the pod of the vanilla bean, it can be added to a container of sugar and it will then be infused with vanilla flavor. 🙂
Hi, Sue! I made a pineapple upside down cake that looks very similar to yours for my daughter’s birthday that happened to fall on Easter Sunday this year. I followed a suggestion from an online recipe that had you bake it in an iron skillet.
A friend emailed me today about your blog and I am so glad that she did! I hope you are doing well.
Your “Girlfriend” forever,
Cathy Arnold
Oh gosh this looks heavenly! I will definitely make it : )
This was my brother’s favorite cake when we were growing up. My Mom made it for him for his birthday every year until he left home. I don’t think I’ve had it for years now-may just be time to remedy that!
Susan,I don’t have a comment on your cake but I did want to share my latest find for my cookbook collection.Gladys Taber wrote a cookbook and it is wonderful to read.I have made several recipes and will be glad to share.It is called My Own Cookbook from Stillmeadow and Cape Cod.(copyright 1972)! Isn’t her writing inspiring?
I love the “Summer” Book. I leave it out on the counter all season to remind me to make something from it.
Ok…so here’s the confusion for me ~ Some recipes say “2 cups flour, sifted” while others will say “2 cups of sifted flour”….THEN, you have the flour that is pre-sifted…..what’s a cook (and I use that term extremely loosely!) to do????? And I do use the strainer method (because I can’t find my crank sifter like your’s…..it use to be in the old kitchen….). Very confusing….it wasn’t back in the Home Ec days…..I majored in coffee cake….before that, in Junior High, we learned how to set various tables (dinner, supper, buffet and tea)….how to serve, how to DRESS …. there were 6 cooking stations in the Home Ec building – complete with stoves and sinks. There was a dining room off on one side. Those were the days. I can still see that room today….♥
Here’s what I think. Sifting is a good thing. When you sift, you lighten, if you don’t sift, you get more flour than you think you’re getting. So a cake can be heavy. Sift first, measure after. I stopped sifting for a while, believing it was OK, because “they” were saying it was — I stirred it with a fork, but my heart never felt good about it. So I went back to sifting, and been happier ever since. I don’t think pre-sifted stays pre-sifted if it sits in your cupboard for long, because of gravity. 🙂 Can just picture little Peggy in those cooking rooms with all those teenagers and fun confusion.♥
What a lovely and cheerful looking blog! Lots of luck
that’s it I must have a pretty sifter!!! 🙂
Oh, another use for the leftover (if there is any!) wonderful vanilla sauce–in a cup of hot coffee–Yummmmm! 🙂
This cake looks great (will be trying soon and also the orange/pineapple)and I love this blog! Yes, I still bake in Florida even though its hot outside! Also, I want a clothesline like yours….our development says no but there’s nothing better than the sunshine and we have mostly sunshine……..love the smell of sheets on the line………I might do it anyway since they say its easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission! Will be using the placecards soon! Thanks.