Kelli’s Kitchen: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

When special guests were on their way to visit, my great-grandmother would make a pineapple upside-down cake. Fortunately, her recipe was recorded and passed down through my grandmother and mother, and now to me. I have reworked the recipe a bit by reducing the sugar and adding a few ingredients without altering the integrity of the cake. While it still displays the spirit of generations before me, it offers a lighter, more flavorful cake that is sure to please the whole family.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 can (20 ounces) sliced pineapple, drain and reserve 1/2 cup of juice
• 3 eggs, separated into yolks and whites.
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Small jar of Candied Maraschino Cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) in heavy 10-inch iron skillet. Cover melted butter with 1 cup brown sugar, spreading evenly. Place 1 pineapple slice in center on top of sugar, and cut rest of pineapple slices in half. Arrange these in a circle around the center slice like the spokes of a wheel with the rounded edges facing the same way.

Place 3 cherries in the middle of center pineapple slice.

In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks, 1/2 cup of reserved pineapple juice, 1 TBSP lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.

Fold in approximately half of dry sifted mixture into egg mixture and stir. Then fold in other half of dry mixture and stir until smooth.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in beaten egg whites into cake batter.

Pour batter gently over pineapple in iron skillet.

Bake for 35 minutes in a preheated 350º oven.

Let cool and rest for 5 minutes after removing from oven. Then gently loosen edges of cake with a butter knife, and remove cake from iron skillet, gently turning upside down.

(Optional) When serving, garnish with a few more maraschino cherries.