Pineapple upside-down cake is a well-known classic here that I have somehow never made nor even tasted. Edmonds has a recipe for it though and I've been craving sweets lately, so I decided it was time to take a crack at it. There's also a recipe for it in The Perfect Cake by America's Test Kitchen. It uses fresh pineapple cut into small pieces though. And I'm sure it's absolutely lovely. That said, I really wanted that classic look with the pineapple rings and cherry centres for my first time through, so I went with the Edmonds recipe. Maybe I'll try the ATK one next time.

I'm very pleased with how this came out overall. It tastes lovely. It looks great. The mixed spice works really well in the topping! I was worried that the cake part would be too bland, since it doesn't have any flavouring in it, not even vanilla, but it's actually fine. The fruit and spices in the topping are enough. That said, I don't think you'd go wrong with a little vanilla in the batter. If I were to make the pear version at some point I'd be tempted to add a little crystallized ginger to the batter as well. It'll be interesting to see how the flavours in the American version compare if I end up making that one at some point.

One thing I should point out: Don't try to be clever like me and bake it in a springform pan. I thought it would make it easier to unmold since I could just take the sides off and then invert it onto a plate without having to worry about getting it out of the tin or having it stick to the sides. Once it was upside down, I could then just lift the flat metal disc off to reveal the pineapple-y goodness. To be fair, this did, in fact, work. The issue was all the brown sugar topping leaking out the bottom and burning on the bottom of the oven. That part was less good. Next time I'll just bake it in a regular cake tin and trust that it won't stick.

Pineapple Upside-Down Pudding

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Topping

25g (~2 Tbsp.) salted butter, melted
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. mixed spice
1 tsp. corn syrup or golden syrup (optional)¹
6-8 tinned pineapple rings, drained²
6-7 glacé cherries³

Pudding (Cake)

125g (~9 Tbsp.) salted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs⁴
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Topping

Combine the butter, brown sugar, mixed spice, and syrup (if using).
Spread the mixture over the bottom of a greased 20cm (8") round cake tin⁵.
Arrange 6 or 7 pineapple rings on top of the brown sugar mixture. If you're using a 20cm tin, you'll probably only fit 6 rings. If you've got a 23cm pan, you can probably get 7. I also chopped up an 8th ring and used the pieces to fill in any gaps.
Place a cherry in the centre of each pineapple ring.

Pudding (Cake)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Vanilla (if using) may also be added at this point.
Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold⁶ into the creamed mixture.
Stir in the milk.
Pour the batter over the pineapples and cherries in the tin and spread to form an even layer.
Drop the tin a couple times to knock out any air bubbles.
Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes. (Less if you're using a 23cm/9" tin.)
Invert onto serving plate so the pineapple and cherries are on top.
Serve warm with cream and/or custard.

¹ I ended up using a 23cm (9") round tin rather than a 20cm (8"). I added just a touch of corn syrup to the topping just to give it a little more volume and make it a bit easier to spread. ^Back
² You can make it a pear upside-down cake/pudding by substituting tinned pear halves for the pineapple rings. Edmonds suggests a 425g can of pear halves. ^Back
³ Edmonds calls for glacé cherries. I prefer maraschino, so that's what I used for mine. Feel free to use either. ^Back
⁴ Our eggs were on the small side, so I tossed in an extra one. ^Back
⁵ You can also use a 23cm (9") round tin, just don't bake it for quite as long. I ended up taking mine out of the oven after only 20 or 30 minutes. (I lost track of time slightly, so I'm not sure exactly how long it was in.) ^Back
⁶ Edmonds says to fold the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, which is what I did. Next time I think I'd probably just use the electric mixer on low to mix them in. Possibly there's some reason why I shouldn't do this. Maybe they're trying to prevent air from being knocked out of the butter so they want the dry stuff mixed in extra gently. But I haven't had any problems with using the beaters to mix flour into batters using the creaming method in the past, so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. ^Back

Kickshaws and Other Amusements

Sunday 7 April 2019