administratorSometimes I buy something just because it’s on sale or rarely appears in the local store — a so-called “deal” 😉. And sometimes it backfires. That’s how I ended up with a pineapple… fresh, juicy, and wonderfully sweet.
Then came the dilemma: slice it or not? Once cut, we’d have to eat the whole thing. Could my husband and I manage that? Cake to the rescue! Baking it into a cake extends its “life” by a few days.
I found the original upside-down pineapple cake recipe on the Australian site taste.com.au and made a few tweaks — adjusting the proportions and using fresh pineapple instead of canned.
Ingredients (for a 20 cm round cake pan)
440 g canned pineapple or 2/3 of a fresh pineapple
3 tbsp pineapple juice (from the can syrup or freshly squeezed from the pineapple)*
1/2 cup brown sugar (demerara, muscovado, etc.)
120 g softened butter
180 g sugar
3 eggs, beaten
300 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Lightly butter the cake pan and line it with parchment paper.
If using canned pineapple, drain it, reserving 3 tbsp of the syrup. If using fresh pineapple, peel and slice into 0.5 cm thick rounds. Squeeze the remaining pineapple by hand to extract the juice needed.
Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan, then arrange the pineapple slices on top.
In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and add it to the mixture, along with the pineapple juice or syrup. Mix well.
Pour the batter over the pineapple slices, covering them evenly.
Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once baked, gently remove the cake ring. Place a large plate over the cake and carefully invert it. The pineapple slices should now be on top, beautifully caramelized.
