Mary Therese Biebel
Times Leader Test Kitchen
Test cook admits she should have adhered to recipe
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The Times Leader test cook recently baked her first-ever Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, decades after sampling one a former classmate brought to an eighth-grade bake sale.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
First some melted butter and sugar and water go into the pan. Then you add arrange the layer of pineapple and cherries before adding the batter. Later, when the cake is finished baking, you will invert it onto a plate and the bottom will be the top. Hence the name of Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Our test cook covers the fruit layer with batter, being careful not to move the fruit out of place as she works on Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
In a world turned upside down, we need Pineapple Upside-Down Cake more than ever.
At least, that was my thought as, sequestered in my home kitchen, which doubles these days as the Times Leader test kitchen, I pondered what to bake for my mother’s 85th birthday.
I encountered my first Pineapple Upside-Down Cake when I was 13 years old, and a classmate brought one to our eighth-grade bake sale, which was helping to finance our eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. I remember having a piece of her cake, and it was really delicious.
Oddly enough, I allowed decades to slip by without attempting an upside-cake myself. Until now.
I melted butter in a baking dish, adding the sugar and water, then placed the layer of pineapple and maraschino cherries over which I would scoop the batter, taking care not to push the fruit out of place.
The finished product — which was a double batch — looked oh-so-pretty when it emerged from the oven. My mom admired it as my husband, Mark, and I decorated it with birthday candles.
But I’ve got to tell you the truth.
Gentle readers, you may be familiar with my zeal to “healthy up” recipes now and then by using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose white flour. The official recipe, which came from the 1989 edition of Better Homes and Gardens “New Cook Book,” says if you want to adapt “Busy-Day Cake” batter in that direction, use 1 cup white and 1/3 cup whole wheat.
That’s a 3 to 1 ratio.
In my perhaps unwise adaptation I used a 1 to 1 ratio of white and whole wheat flour, with the result that the cake tasted like something you’d expect a barefoot hippie with a tie-dye shirt to serve you from a roadside stand.
I liked the rustic taste all that whole wheat flour imparted, but my mom politely said something like, “This is very heavy,” and my husband gave me oh-such-a-reproachful look.
So, gentle readers, learn from my mistake. Unless you are going to feed a family of die-hard whole wheat fans, just follow the recipe.
PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
8-ounce can pineapple slices, drained and halved
4 maraschino cherries, halved
Batter for Busy-Day Cake (recipe follows)
Melt shortening in 9 x 1.5-inch round baking pan. Stir in sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Arrange pineapple and cherries in the pan. Prepare batter for Busy Day Cake and spoon into the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Loosen sides; invert onto a plate. Serve warm.
BUSY-DAY CAKE (for the batter)
1 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla.
In a bowl combine four, sugar and baking powder. Add milk, shortening, egg and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
As you add this batter to the baking pan, you will be covering the pineapple and cherries that are already lining the bottom. Be careful not to disturb your pattern of fruit.
