Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 

Pineapple upside down cake is a real American classic and I would have to say it is still my very favorite cake of all cakes. It all began when the Dole Pineapple Company in Hawaii developed commercial pineapple farming and a canning method in the early 2oth century that quickly made pineapple readily available across the nation. Then a Dole Recipe Contest winner’s recipe clinched this cake’s culinary “pop icon” status and pineapple upside down cakes were baking in homemaker’s ovens across America.

I posted a Pineapple Upside Down cake recipe back in 2015 (See here) that pretty much replicates the Dole contest winners recipe. But recently I relocated another favorite Pineapple upside down cake recipe from the Border Grill in Los Angeles that I loved and made all the time in LA and later when living in Hawaii. With just a few minor tweaks here is what’s become my moist, sweet, sour, and luxuriously rich Hawaiian Pineapple Upside down cake with macadamia nuts no less.

 

Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake   serves 6

Ingredients:

Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Hawaiian Pineapple uUpside Down Cake

  • 4 tablespoons/ 2 oz unsalted butter melted
  • 9 tablespoons/ 4 ½ oz unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 can round pineapple slices in syrup, reserving the syrup
  • 1 3/4 oz/ 50 g whole unsalted macadamia nuts
  • 1 ½ cups pastry flour
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon pineapple syrup

 

Equipment: one 9 or 10 inch round cake pan, very well buttered

Preheat oven to 350 f/ 180 c

Place 4 tablespoons/ 2 oz butter in a small saucepan over set over low heat. Once the butter is melted add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is thick and emulsified. Promptly pour the mixture into the cake pan and spread evenly to cover the bottom of the pan.

Blot the pineapple rounds with a paper towel and arrange them in a circular pattern around the pan with a final round placed in the center. Place whole macadamia nuts in the center of each pineapple and the remaining nuts placed  between the rounds. Set aside while you prepare the batter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of sea salt. Stir to combine the ingredients evenly and set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl combine the remaining 9 tablespoons/ 4 ½ oz softened butter, sour cream or Greek yogurt, egg yolks, and vanilla. Using a hand held mixer whisk the ingredients together until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Then add half of the dry ingredients and briefly beat until combined. Then add the remaining dry ingredients and 1 tablespoon of the pineapple syrup and continue to beat, once again scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the batter is thick and smooth, about 1 ½ minutes. The mixture will be quite stiff as it should be.

Spoon the batter in dollops atop and around the pineapple rings. Then, using a small flexible spatula dipped into the reserved pineapple syrup, spread the batter evenly over the surface of the fruit right to the edges of the pan. Repeatedly dipping the spatula in the syrup makes the spreading of the batter easier and with smoother results.

Transfer the pan to the center of the oven and bake for 18 to 25 minutes. Be mindful once you reach the 20 minute mark. You want the batter to be just baked without drying out. The surface should be just slightly colored and done when a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let cool for just a couple minutes, but no more or it will stick to the bottom of the pan.

Then, confidently, invert the cake onto a serving plate. The cake should release pretty much intact but If not quite, simply preposition the pineapple as needed. This cake’s charm is after all its artisanal appeal!

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