The crux of this post is my double trials of Pineapple Upside Down Cake. One trial being a catastrophe in appearance, where I blame the below average baking tin I used. The second trial however, being downright delicious!

In other news, the little person that popped out of my tummy 50 days ago has learnt the art of crying in shockingly high pitches. Which means I have time to give to this post only as she decides. Let’s see just how entertaining she finds the musical chair to be. #FingersCrossed.

Thanks to a facebook contest by The Hummingbird Bakery Middle East, I had won a brilliant dessert recipe book, featuring their prime creations.  Couple of months back, while drooling through its pages one very pregnant day, I started developing sinful cravings. Their Pineapple Upsidedown cake recipe not only looked amazing, but seemed wonderfully easy for a loaded lazy girl to make too. While I share with you their recipe, please bear in mind that I had to make-do with an aluminium baking pan, it being my family home in Kerala. So the final product looks raw and not overtly appealing, though it tasted pretty dang good. Comparatively, I went googoo-gaagaa over the second recipe I got off the internet which I made using a non-stick pan. It ended up looking tempting and tasted like heaven. Isn’t that the agenda anyway?

Recipe for The Hummingbird Bakery’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Things you need:

200g unsalted butter, softened + extra for greasing

200g caster sugar + 3 tbsp for sprinkling

4 large eggs

200g plain flour + extra for dusting

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

90 ml pineapple juice (from the tin)

6 slices of tinned pineapple

One 9 inch cake tin

How you go about it:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius. Grease the cake tin with butter & dust with flour.

2. Cream the butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing well to form a smooth batter. Add the pineapple juice & mix thoroughly.

4. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of caster sugar over the base of the prepared cake tin. Arrange the pineapple slices in a circular pattern & press them down flat. Pour the cake batter over the pineapple slices.

5. Bake the cake for 35-45 mins or until the sponge is golden brown and bounces back when lightly touched. Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin and then carefully turn out onto a plate.

Though this looks like an oven-virgin cake, it is perfectly baked, moist and delicious in the inside. I have all the reasons to blame my tin for how raw the pineapples have remained. Barring the appearance, I dare say that I nailed the Hummingbird Bakery’s Pineapple Upside Down recipe!

Being 9 months pregnant and a true foodie, my craving for a truly caramelized pineapple topping remained. I decided to try a different recipe and being so close to my due date (T-2 days), didn’t want to take chances. So I found myself a non-stick baking tin this time. This resulted in a total winner- hot looking and mouthwatering.

Cake recipe from the internet- a 1925 winner of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company Recipe Contest. (That SHOULD be good, shouldn’t it?!)

Things you need for this one:

1 large can of crushed or sliced pineapple

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

½ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup brown sugar

How you go about this one:

  1. Sift the flour with baking powder & salt.
  2. Cream the butter. Gradually add the sugar and cream well.
  3. Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately. Add the yolks to the creamed mixture. Mix well, and then add the flour mixture and milk into it, alternately. Mix well.
  4. Fold in the beaten egg whites and vanilla extract.
  5. Spread the brown sugar over the baking tin. Arrange the pineapple slices over this. (If it is crushed pineapple, simply pour the well-drained fruit over the brown sugar). Pour the cake batter over the fruit.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Take out, let it cool for 15 minutes and then turn upside down.
  7. Stare at your pretty creation in awe and dig right in!

P.S: I like to use the sweet, seedless cherries along with the pineapples. It tastes nice and pretty up the cake too.

Two days after this cake was taken out from the oven, I delivered my little girl Mehreen. I was still thinking about the leftover portion of this cake when I was driven back home from the hospital. Too bad that didn’t go well. I still make my brother apologize for licking it clean while I was away popping out his niece! People just don’t have any regards these days! HMPH!

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