Day 3: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake topped with Pineapple Slices, Maraschino Cherries, and Pecans
Today’s dish is a varient of a classic piece of Americana. This cake was baked in a 12-inch cast iron skillet, which allowed for a dark brown sugar/butter mixture to be dissolved in it before adding the mandatory pineapple slices/maraschino cherries and pouring the batter on top. The heat from the oven will cause this mixture to harden into the topping. This topping is a hop, skip, and jump away from actual candy, eliminating the need for any type of frosting. It also tastes sublime.
The cake itself is simple flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, and salt base with the addition of pineapple juice for flavor and sweetness. The batter was not creamed fully as in a normal cake, but rather combined until it incorporated like a muffin. This creates more air pockets and a coarser texture then a normal cake. It also incorporates much less sugar then a usual cake due to the incorporation of pineapple juice and a desire for a less sweet and tender bottom to compliment the sweet topping.
Yes, the cherries are those kinds from a jar that you put in cocktails. But for this recipe it doesn’t feel the same with anything else.
