Pineapple Upside Down

Sorry this blog has been dormant for a few weeks. It is not extinct, but about to become active again. Can you tell that I've been on a trip to Hawaii, the land of volcanos? So there are many blog ideas bubbling in my head, about to erupt on this site!

When we think of Hawaii, often it is pineapples that come to mind. Pineapple was brought to the Hawaiian Islands early in their history, perhaps as early as 1527 washed ashore from a Spanish shipwreck. In the 1800's it became a widespread crop. Pineapple canning companies were formed in the late 1800s/early 1900s by Dole and Del Monte, names we now associate with pineapple. However, today Hawaii produces only .13% of the world's pineapple crop, most of what we buy in the store comes from Costa Rica.

When choosing a pineapple at the store, smell the fruit to pick one with a nice fragrant smell. You should be able to easily pull one of the leaves from the top. At home store it at room temperature for 1-2 days or in the refrigerator for 3-5 days to allow it to become softer and sweeter.

Fresh pineapple, or canned pineapple, makes a tasty addition to many recipes. An old favorite that I recently prepared is Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Remember it from past covered dish dinners or school lunch? Here's an easy recipe for that old favorite:

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 can (20 oz) pineapple slices in juice, drained, juice reserved

1 jar (6 oz) maraschino cherries without stems, drained

1 box yellow cake mix

Vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

Heat oven to 350°F. In 13x9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.

Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 cup. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

Bake 42 to 48 minutes (44 to 53 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cook 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool Store covered in refrigerator. I didn't have a serving platter to fit the cake pan, so I stored it in the pan and cut and flipped each piece as it was served. Just a little more guesswork on where to cut! 

Guess what? A can of pineapple slices has 10 slices,
we needed 12 to fill the cake pan.

So we make-do! A can of chunk pineapple contributed
to the missing slices. 

And Maraschino cherries add the color.  

After the cake is baked, it looks just
like a regular cake, until it is turned
UPSIDE DOWN.