PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
Serves 16
Ingredients:
For the fruit layer:
| Butter | 140 g/5 oz |
| Rhum | 30 ml/2 Tbs |
| Brown sugar | 240 g/8 oz |
| Canned pineapple, cut into rounds | 680 g/24 oz/10 pieces |
| Glazed cherries | 88 g/3 oz/22 pieces |
For the cake batter:
| Fine flour | 200 g/7 oz |
| Cornstarch | 30 g/1 oz |
| Baking powder | 7 g/4 tsp |
| Fine salt | 2 g/1 tsp |
| Egg | 7 pieces |
| Sugar | 300 g/10 oz |
| Citrus juice | 10 ml/2 tsp |
| Vegetable oil | 125 ml/½ cup |
| Milk | 180 ml/½ cup 4 Tbs |
| Vanilla | 5 ml/1 tsp |
Procedure:
Fruit layer
- Preheat the oven to 170 C/340 F. Grease the sides of two 24 cm/9 in. round cake pans. Divide the butter and rhum into two equal parts and put them in each pan. Place the cake pans in the oven until the butter has melted.
- Distribute the brown sugar equally to the two pans. Place again in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Arrange the pineapple rounds at the bottom of each pan. Place a cherry in each pineapple hole and more cherries in the middle of the pan. Set aside.
Cake batter
- Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside. Grease two cake pans. In this recipe, I use two 24 cm/9 in. round cake pans. Preheat the oven to 170 C/340 F.
- Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks. With the whisk attachment of your mixer, whip the egg whites with half of the sugar and all the lemon juice until they are stiff enough to hold their shape. Set aside.
- With the paddle of your mixer, mix the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar until the mixture resembles the consistency of melted ice cream.
- Add your sifted dry ingredients into the bowl. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla next. Make sure to mix all the ingredients well to create a smooth mixture.
- With a rubber spatula, mix one-third of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter. Fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter, ensuring the air you’ve incorporated holds.
- Divide the batter equally into the two cake pans. Place the pans in the oven for 40-45 minutes or until the batter is thoroughly cooked. Check by poking a toothpick into the cake. When there is no batter that sticks to the toothpick, the cake is done.
- Cool for about 30 minutes. Invert the cakes onto platters, the pineapples and cherries creating a nice garnish for the cake.
