Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Yesterday, before school started, my 12 year old read the newspaper. In it was a photo of a swingset installed at the White House for the Obama girls. He had two comments. The first was that the material below the swingset was dyed a disturbingly unnatural shade of green. The second was that he's sorry for those girls, and would not want to be the son of a president, because their childhoods can now never be normal, and they get nothing from it. Their father is the president, and they're just little kids trying to fit in, but forever regarded as some president's kids. I think that boy's developing a pretty good, analytical brain!

Of course, since yesterday was the nicest day forecast for this week, the boys and Thor took a 3 hour lunch/recess break, somewhere out in this ready to turn green yard (I am an optimist!)

But, on to dessert. My youngest boy is the biggest fussbudget on the planet. He doesn't like anything. Really. I asked him what foods he likes, and this is what he said:

-Brownies without nuts
-Lemon meringue pie without meringue

-Orange ice cream
-Lemon sherbet
-Peppermint Patty cake
-chocolate cake with no frosting
-oranges
-pineapple
-nutella (no sandwich wanted)

Of course! How about Pineapple Upside Down Cake? It takes 5 minutes to put together, so here goes...

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Topping:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

8 ounces pineapple, slices or crushed (drained)
Maraschino cherries, optional
Cake:
1-1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup milk

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. In a 9" cake pan (not a springform pan) melt the 2 tbsp butter. Stir in the brown sugar, and arrange the pineapple and, if desired, cherry halves, atop the sugar/butter mix. Next, stir together the dry cake ingredients, then add the wet ingredients. Beat for 1 to 2 minutes, until well mixed. Pour into the cake pan, over the pineapple. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool somewhat, then invert onto a serving dish. The sugar/butter mix will run down the sides of the cake a little bit, and it's delightful.
Oh, and my little fussbudget? Didn't like the pineapple. Said it tasted like something else, maybe oatmeal. *sigh* What shall I do with him?

19 comments:

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Oh how that brings back memories. My Dad used to bake it on a cast iron skillet. I wonder how my fussbudgets would like this.

SissySees said...

My mother's only claim to fame in the kitchen. She made hers in a cast iron skillet too.

noble pig said...

I have a picky eater too! It's hard since I love anything! This sounds so yummy.

Pam said...

My daughter is becoming more and more picky as she gets older - it's driving me NUTS. The pineapple upside down cake looks amazing to me.

pam said...

Thank goodness all my children eat anything (well except beets), but pretty much anything else.

Ann Made Studio said...

That cake looks so good! Thank you again for sharing these great recipes :)

Melanie said...

I am going to make this as one of my Easter desserts. Thanks for sharing!

Paula said...

I just love those guys! First off, I'm impressed that your 7th grader was reading the NEWSPAPER on his own! And I agree that he's got a great head on his shoulders. Next, your little man ... he's just so darn cute, and it cracks me up the way he voices his displeasure. Love his food choice list! I swear that my oldest survived on toast and milk for years. In fact, we always tease him that his 2nd word was toast, 3rd word was milk, and 4th word phrase was "more toast and milk". I bet when he's an adult, he'll love all this stuff and beg his mom to send him an oatmeal, oops, I mean pineapple upside down cake! :-) The cake is lovely, by the way!

Anonymous said...

I think pineapple upside down cake has always been one of my favorites. I was a picky eater as a kid too but you should see me now the only thing I don't like is parsnips. There's hope!!

Miriam in KS said...

When I saw the title of this post I had to chuckle! My youngest brother called me not too long ago to ask how mother had made her pinapple upside down cake in her cast iron skillet. I was thinking, "I left home first! Why would I remember! You were older when you left home than I was!"

So thank you for this recipe. I'm sending him the link.

As to the fussbudget...well, just keep trying.

Anette said...

My son is just like him. I seem to try the ingredients he likes in new settings, and he doesn't like them. I'm just hoping for him to like more when he gets older, as he loves cooking!

Peter M said...

Hey hey, nice to see you making upside-down cakes too! It's a classic and I'll try this out too!

Renna said...

I've been wanting a good pineapple upside down cake recipe, and am so glad to have run across yours!

My son was a fussy eater when he was small, too. He's now 33, and still a fussy eater!

Al Malekovic said...

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Jan said...

Oh dear, picky eaters. I'd sympathise but I've never been one, or had one.

test it comm said...

That pineapple upside down cake looks good!

Jeff said...

Wow your boy definitely likes his sweets! Being from Southern California (and also being sick of this fast-paced, spend-centric lifestyle) I truly envy your way of living and... as far as the picky eater, keep pushing!

Anonymous said...

I made this cake today and was disappointed with how it turned out. The recipe calls for too much baking powder (you can distinctively taste it in the cake). The cake itself was pretty dense and needed more sweetness.

Jess Boyer said...

I was looking all over the internet for an upside-down cake. I came across this and made it today. It was AWESOME! My husband and I loved it! Thank you for posting the recipe :)