Pineapple Upside Down Cake

So what does a pacifist hippie bring to a UFC fight on a Saturday night you ask? Pineapple upside down cake - perfect choice. I was surprised at how easy it was to make - and was quite pleased that the texture of the brown sugar and butter topping came out so well. As I was making this I kept thinking how delicious some sort of peach upside down cake would be. Stay tuned - I'm about to turn all the summer fruit upside down.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
serves about 8/adapted from this recipe

Here's what I used:

Topping

• 20 oz. can of pineapple rings
• 4 tablespoons cold butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 8 - 10 maraschino cherries

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Here's what I did:

Topping

1. Drain pineapple rings, reserving two tablespoons for the cake batter.
2. Place the four tablespoons of cold butter in a 9" round pan (I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and melted the butter directly in the oven).
3. Remove pan and sprinkle brown sugar over the melted butter.
4. Place pineapple rounds over the sugar and add a cherry in the midde of each.
5. Set aside.

Cake

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a mixer - blend together with a fork.
2. Add the milk and butter and mix thoroughly.
3. Mix in the egg, reserved pineapple juice and vanilla - about two minutes.
4. Pour the cake batter on top of the pineapples and gently cover all the fruit.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top of the cake is set and lightly springs back when you touch the middle.
6. Cool on wire wrack for about five minutes and then upside down your cake on a serving dish.