We’re going vintage with the ever popular Pineapple Upside down cake. Around the 1920’s ovens were just getting introduced and prior to this, most homemakers make their cakes in a skillet. In 1925 the Hawaiian Pineapple company ran a contest and they got thousands of recipes for something similar to the Pineapple upside down cake. This was so popular that it was served extensively in the 20’s and is popular even today. Many recipes still call for this cake to be cooked in a skillet, but I’m going to make this in a good old cake pan. This cake is soft and moist with the addition of pineapple juice and buttermilk. Pineapple slices and maraschino cherries are added to the bottom of the pan and then flipped ‘upside down’ to serve.
We love going to theme parties and when my friend threw a 1920’s vintage soiree, I knew that this cake would be perfect!
Follow my recipe and my video to see the ‘secret ingredient’ in my cake that gives it an incredible texture
Ingredients
- ½ a cup of salted melted Butter
- ½ cup of brown Sugar
- 5 – 7 Pineapple rings
- 5 – 10 Maraschino Cherries
- Now for the cake batter. I’m going to sift
- 1 cup of regular all purpose flour,
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ½ a cup Semolina
- ½ cup Butter Milk,
- 5 tbsps Oil
- ¼ cup Reserved Pineapple juice from the can
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 cup sugar
Instructions
- Prepare your cake pan by oiling or buttering it. My cake pan is 21 cms in diameter and I like to line the sides with a strip of parchment paper to prevent sticking
- Pour the melted butter in and sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter evenly
- The size of pan I used fits 5 whole slices perfectly, cut the extra slices in half and fill in the spaces
- Add the maraschino cherries in between the circles and anywhere there is space
- Sift the flour, baking powder & soda and salt together
- Add the Semolina
- In my food processor, I’m going to add all the liquid ingredients and mix it well
- Once the liquid is mixed well, add the flour 1 tbsp at a time
- Be sure to scrape the sides of your bowl periodically
- Once the batter is just about mixed, pour it over the pineapples. If you live in a cold climate, the butter will start to solidify around the pineapples. This is actually a great advantage as it prevents the slices and cherries from moving as you pour the batter.
- Pour all the mixed batter on top of the pineapples
- Move this to a preheated 350 degree oven and allow to bake for 30 - 40 mins
- Once done, remove and allow to cool. Once cool use a knife if required and remove the paper
- Flip the cake to serve
