Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

One of my nieces recently reminded me that I made this TWICE during a trip to Florida years ago. That just shows how much everyone loves Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake! Oddly enough, I hadn’t made it in years until last week at our Pocono house. Isn’t it funny how we sometimes get on ‘kicks’ of cooking certain things, then it just gets pushed to the back of the recipe file.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is easy to make, especially now that grocery stores sell small packages of cake mix.   (Betty Crocker ‘Yellow Cupcake Mix’).

Of course, you can always use a regular-size cake mix – and a 10″ X 13″ pan. It is a bit harder to flip the larger cake but it’s certainly doable.  ++ If you prepare an ordinary-size cake mix, double the butter, brown sugar, butter, cherries & pineapple.

Ingredients

• 1 package Betty Crocker ‘Yellow Cupcake Mix’ — prepared according to directions
• 1 small can pineapple rings – drain juice & reserve
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 10 Maraschino cherries

   Method

Preheat oven to 350 (F).   ++ Preheat right away – the butter is placed in the pan, then melted in the oven.

Prepare cake according to package directions BUT use the reserved pineapple juice instead of water. Add water, if necessary, to the pineapple juice to equal the amount of water called for in the recipe.

Place 1/4 cup butter in an 9′ x 9′ square pan, or 9′ x 9′ round pan –  or casserole dish like I did. Place baking pan in oven for a short time to melt the butter.   ++ Keep an eye on the butter – you don’t want to burn it!

Remove pan from oven.  Stir in 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and spread the butter/brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.

Arrange the drained pineapple rings over the butter/brown sugar mixture. Place a Maraschino cherry in the center of each ring. Arrange the rest of the cherries evenly on the bottom of the pan.

Pour cake batter over the pineapple rings and cherries.

++Bake for 30 – 35+ minutes    ++  If you’re not sure the cake is fully cooked, stick a sharp knife in the center to check for doneness.  If any cake batter sticks to the knife, bake cake for a few minutes longer.

IMMEDIATELY invert pan onto a serving platter. If you wait to invert the pan, you may have a problem because, as the sugar/butter mixture begins to cool, it can stick to the pan.

I’m a firm believer that everything is better with whipped cream or ice cream, but it’s far from necessary ’cause there’s so much flavor in Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.   Enjoy!