Pineapple Upside Down Cake - ☺♥

This is a recipe from the Internet that looked quite good, with changes to the traditional recipe that made a lot of sense, like using only the egg white(s) to create a light crumb to the cake instead of having a heavy cake. I modified the recipe ingredient amounts and directions slightly and tested it. Whoa! Now this is delicious! Great tasting cake portion ... far better crumb than any pineapple upside down cake I ever ate before. Light and just the right flavor and amount of sweetness. Of course, the toppings were typically delicious. How can you go wrong with caramelized sugar, pineapple slices and maraschino cherries? Well, I cut the cherries in half for better fruit composition at eating time.

I am very pleased. This one is serendipity. I hope you make this recipe as you will smile a lot, as will your family, friends and guests ... provided you leave them anything to taste! The only additional change I might make to this recipe (a matter of preference) is to bake the cake longer to guarantee better caramelization of the butter and brown sugar topping, to make it somewhat more crisp/slightly crunchy.

Normally you make this cake in either a round deep dish pie plate or a square or rectangular glass casserole (see shapes in the first picture group). But I used a six position mini-bundt pan (see the second, multiple position baking dish picture), non-stick ... which, by the way, still needed the inner surface to be made slippery with a light film of butter prior to putting in the other ingredients, esp. the cake batter. Also, if you want to make a larger cake in a 9" x 13" x 2" rectangular glass casserole then increase the ingredient amounts shown below by about one third.

Okay, enough discussion. It is time for you to check out the recipe and decide if you want to make it. (Hint: You do.)

Ingredients:

Topping:

1/4 cup of butter, melted

2/3 cup of packed brown sugar

7 pineapple slices (or more if needed due to the size of your baking dish)

13 to 19 maraschino cherries (or more if needed), whole or cut into halves as appropriate to the baking dish

Cake Batter: (for a 9" diameter deep dish pie plate or a six position mini bundt pan)

1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/4 cup of packed brown sugar

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 jumbo or two large egg whites

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup of whole milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Prepare the topping first:

Pour the 1/4 cup of melted butter into an ungreased 9" diameter deep dish (2" deep) pie plate.

Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the melted butter.

Place the fruit pieces spread out on paper towels. Put more paper towels on top. Blot all surface liquid from the fruit using the paper towels.

Arrange the pineapple slices and all the cherries (whole or cut in half based on your type of baking dish) on top of the brown sugar. If you have extra volume in your baking dish, you can halve 3 additional pineapple rings and arrange the pieces around the sides of the baking dish.

Place the baking dish in the refrigerator for a few minutes as you prepare the cake batter. This is supposed to help solidify or “set” the fruit topping arrangement.

Make the cake batter:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a 2 quart bowl. Set the mixture aside.

Use a stand mixer and beat the softened butter on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.

Add the white and brown sugars and beat on medium high speed until creamed together, about 1 minute.

Scrape down the sides and the inner bottom of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula as needed to assure complete mixing.

Beat in the egg white(s) on medium high speed until combined, then add the sour cream, the milk and the vanilla extract and mix for two minutes.

Dump the flour mixture into the mixing bowl.

Turn the mixer on to low speed and as the mixer runs increase the speed to medium.

Beat just until all of the batter ingredients are combined, about one to two minutes.

Assemble and bake the cake:

Remove the baking dish with the toppings from the refrigerator. Pour and spread the cake batter evenly over the topping.

Bake the cake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the baking dish halfway through the baking. If needed, cover the cake with an aluminum foil tent for the last ten minutes of baking time, to avoid having the cake surface become too dark.

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean. I found no problem using my method with the mini bundt pan and a total baking time of only 35 minutes, rotating the bundt pan 180 degrees in the oven after the first 20 minutes of baking. This is similar to having reduced baking time when making cupcakes instead of a full size cake. Smaller volumes finish baking in less time.

Remove the cake from the oven and cool it on a wood cutting board for only 20 minutes.

Invert the slightly cooled cake onto a cake stand or a serving plate so the caramelized sugar and the pineapple and cherry pieces are on top.

Cool the cake completely to room temperature before slicing and serving it.

Cover any leftover portion(s) and store it/them for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Enjoy ... and I simply know you will.