Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I have always wanted to make an upside down cake. Its been one of those things on my baking check list that I have been waiting to cross off for some time now and finally did.

So what makes an upside down cake special? For me, it was always its presentation and the fact that it is served upside down (and hence called Upside Down Cake). After eating it, I have realized its special not only because of the way it is baked and served. The combination of melted butter and brown sugar that caramelizes with the fruit which embeds itself in a fluffy moist cake while being baked is what makes this cake a treat.

An upside down cake can be made with any fruit, and I have seen some lovely variations floating all over the internet. Since this was my first time trying it, I had to go with the classic American version- the pineapple upside down cake.

I love stand alone cakes- you know the kinds that don’t require frosting or anything other than a simple dusting of sugar. Don’t get me wrong, I love rich decadent cakes that are sandwiched with buttercream or whipped cream, but sometimes a plain simple cake is what I want. This cake is perfect to bake if you shy away from buttercream but still want a cake that looks good enough to impress people.

You can recreate this cake with any frozen, canned or fresh seasonal fruit, and maybe add some herbs too or just make it the classic way like I have. I adapted this recipe from the one on Sally’s Baking AddictionBlog and it’s a winner. The cake recipe is the perfect base (or topping) for whatever fruit you use. If you decide to change the fruit, do not change the cake recipe. It produces a moist, buttery yet light cake. I did substitute the brown and white sugar with palm sugar and hence the cake is more brown in color than most traditional ones. Don’t get fooled by the darker color, it is still every bit tasty.

While otherwise pretty easy to make, the only thing to keep in mind while making this cake is that it needs to be removed from the pan shortly after it has been taken from the oven or the fruit will stick. Besides that, this cake is pretty simple and straightforward to make. Hope you get to try it and if you do, please tag me on Facebook, instagram or twitter.