Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Introducing the best pineapple upside down cake I've ever had. True, I don't think I've had many pineapple upside down cakes in my life but one day I saw this on Pinterest, pinned it and then couldn't stop thinking about it. The super sweet, gooey cake just sounded so good. So one day - not a special occasion or anything - I just decided to make it.

So glad I did!

This recipe is from Averie Cooks. I've made several recipes from her site and everything is divine. I recommend looking around.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
one 20-ounce can pineapple slices
about 12 maraschino cherries
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small,  microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.

Pour the butter into a 9-inch springform cake pan (my springfoam pan was larger which works too). Use your finger to run a bit of butter around the side of the pan so it's well-greased.

Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter.

Add 1 whole pineapple slice to the center of the pan.

Halve the remaining slices vertically. Stagger them in a fan-like fashion going around the cake.

Place the remaining slices around the sides of the cake pan with the curved side pointing down toward the bottom of the pan. There will likely be bare side patches with no pineapple coverage, that's okay.

Place 1 cherry in the center of the whole pineapple slice in the middle of the pan. Place 1 cherry in the center cutout of all the fanned pineapple slices; set pan aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt; set aside.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the next 5 wet ingredients (through vanilla).

Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Small lumps will be present, don't overmix or try to stir them smooth.

Gently turn batter out into prepared pan, being careful to not disturb the pineapple slices on the sides or bottom. Fill pan only to about 3/4-full. If you have a little extra batter, discard it rather than overfilling your pan.

Place pan on a cookie sheet (to catch anything that does overflow) and bake for about 40 minutes, or until center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Only go down about 1-inch with the toothpick, not all the way to the bottom where you'll hit gooey pineapple juice.

Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before inverting, slicing, and serving. Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days but it's unlikely it won't be eaten by then!

Recipe credit