A Pineapple Cake

This past month has flown past and it is time to reveal my February bake for the Cake Slice Bakers. Each month members of the group, all keen bakers, select a recipe from a choice of four taken from Maida Heatter's Cakes. The recipes this month were a poppy seed cake, a chocolate pudding cake, a coffee cream sponge and a pineapple upside down cake. What to choose... I have only eaten a poppy seed cake once before and I really wasn't keen, so I ruled that out, but I could easily have made any of the other three... And still might make them all. But what swayed it for me was this tin...

A moulded tin made just for individual pineapple cakes which I've had for a while but only ever used a couple of times (If you happen to click on the link I can assure you I did not pay anywhere near that for my tin, which is available in the US for just $13 but over four times the price in the UK) I did think maybe I wasn't challenging myself enough with this recipe as I have often made pineapple upside down cakes in the past, but it is different from what I would usually do so it seemed worth a try.

I usually just put a dollop of golden syrup in the tin, topped with the pineapple and then a regular Victoria sponge mix, but this starts with a mix of melted butter and soft brown sugar. The recipe is for a single cake to feed 6 to 8 but as there were only three of us eating I halved the recipe and just filled three of the individual tins. (I have given you the full recipe though)

The cake itself was a fat free whisked sponge flavoured with pineapple juice which made for a lovely light cake.

And this was the result... A gorgeous golden cake topped with toffee glazed pineapple.

Served warm with some whipped cream, also flavoured with some of the pineapple juice, it made a perfect dessert for our meal last Sunday. A soft light cake with a crunchy toffee exterior. I imagine it would be less crunchy if made in a big tin but just as tasty. I would definitely make this again as not only was it delicious but also very easy to throw together. The recipe does say to bake for 45 minutes but in the small tins it only took 25 minutes, so I would suggest watching it carefully, and Maida also suggests adding an apricot glaze when it comes out of the oven. As I didn't have apricot jam I skipped this bit and I don't think it made much difference. I've given the recipe for the full sized cake which Maida Heatter suggests baking in a large skillet or pie dish but a large cake tin would do just fine... Although individual tins do produce very pretty cakes if you can track down a tin at a reasonable price!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake (adapted from Maida Heatter's Cakes)

You will need a large cake tin approx 10" (not loose bottomed)

Ingredients:

• 65g unsalted butter
• 110g soft light brown sugar
• 2 x 225g tins of pineapple in natural juice
• 6-8 glace cherries
• 135g sifted plain flour
• 1/3 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 160g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons of pineapple juice from the tinned pineapple

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 deg F, 180 deg C, 160 deg fan.
• Melt the butter in a small pan and pour into the base of your tin
• Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter
• Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice and dry the slices on kitchen paper.
• Arrange the pinapple rings in the tin on top of the sugar making a pretty design (so easy in the individual tins!) You may not need all the slices. Then place a cherry in the centre of each slice.
• Now prepare the cake batter by sifting together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric beater whisk the eggs together in a clean bowl until thick and creamy and then gradually add the sugar, still whisking until the mixture becomes thick and pale.
• Add the vanilla and pineapple juice and whisk until just smooth.
• On a low speed whisk in the sifted dry ingredients until just combined.
• Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. (My individual cakes only took 25 minutes)
• Remove from the oven and immediately invert the tin onto a clean plate. Wait for a minute or two to allow the topping to settle and then remove the tin. If you wish you can brush with melted apricot gaze but this didn't seem necessary. (Melt 3-4 tablespoons of smooth apricot jam to make the glaze)
• Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream!

See what the other cake slice bakers have made this month:


   

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