In February we spent 10 days mainly in Maui, Hawaii and ate some incredible food. One of the memorable meals was eaten at Hailemaile General Store which is one of the best restaurants on the island. Their pineapple upside-down cake was so delicious that I took a picture of it and decided to come home and try my hand at it.
After a couple of tries, I made this one with fresh pineapple using a modified recipe from Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I had used a cast iron skillet for the first two but I should have used a bigger skillet because the cake part was too high and you got the taste of the cake and not of the brown sugar and pineapple.The cake in the picture was baked in a round cake pan. I buttered two pans, poured a melted stick of butter into each pan, sprinkled 1 cup of brown sugar over the melted butter in each pan. Then I added the fresh pineapple until it covered the pan.Then I put the pans in a 350 degree F. oven while I prepared the cake batter.
I better list ingredients:
2- 8 in. round cake pans
16 Tblsps. butter (2 sticks)
2 cups of brown sugar
one fresh pineapple, cut in thick slices about 1/2 inches, enough to fill the 2 pans.
Or 1 can of sliced pineapple
Cake batter ingredients:
4 Tblsps. melted butter for cake batter
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt
Combine and beat the melted butter, buttermilk or sour milk - (I used sour milk) eggs and granulated sugar until mixed. Measure out the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl and gradually add to the liquid mixture until it looks mixed.
Try to divide the mixture over the two pans you've pulled from the oven. You may have to spread it to cover the pineapple. Put in the 350 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes. Because the pineapple sugar mixture is hot, it bakes a little faster. Also the thinness of the pans compared to the cast iron skillet makes it bake faster. Keep an eye on the cakes -
Write me if I haven't been clear enough. I made the cakes with canned pineapple and fresh pineapple. We liked it both ways. By putting the pineapple/brown sugar mixture in pans in the oven while I mixed the batter, the cake cooked evenly. I do that now with all my fruit cobblers.
I used both buttermilk and sour milk. Couldn't tell the difference. I had sour milk but in the past I have made sour milk by adding 1/2 tsp. vinegar to 1 cup of fresh milk.
