I’m sure you’ve come across people who don’t like frosting on their cakes, for whatever reason. Me? I love my frosting. AND I love my cakes. Haha.
But anyway, I recently baked a pineapple upside-down cake for hubby’s birthday. He’s not too keen on frosting, so when I learnt about this cake from a friend, I thought it would be perfect!
And I was right!
An added bonus was that the kids helped me baked this cake and we had a lot of fun doing it too! It’s not a very ‘rise-able’ cake, so don’t expect it to be all fluffy, but it’s like this delicious dessert that’s not too sweet, but yet is good enough to make you want more. Tastes a little like nyonya kueh, if you ask me. Try it if you prefer your cakes sans frosting, or if you just like pineapples! 🙂
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (source)
Ingredients:
- butter (for greasing)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 6 slices canned pineapple in juice (plus 3 tablespoons of the juice)
- 11 glace cherries (approx. 75g total weight)
- 100 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 100 grams soft butter
- 100 grams caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400ºF. Butter a tarte Tatin tin (24cm/9 inches wide at the top and 20cm/8 inches diameter at the bottom) or use a 23cm / 8-9 inch cake tin (neither loose-bottomed nor springform).
- Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices to make a circular pattern as in the picture.
- Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.
- Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, butter, caster sugar and eggs into a food processor and run the motor until the batter is smooth. Then pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little.
- Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a spatula around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with one deft – ha! – move, turn it upside-down.