Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Recipe sourced from the Nigella Lawson website.

Everyone who knows me, knows I love desserts, particularly if fruit is involved. I've been wanting to make a pineapple upside down cake for a while, so I set out to find a recipe that looked good.

The recipe I found on Nigella's website had some good reviews and it didn't disappoint. Nigella suggests you can make a warm sauce from the pineapple juice to serve with the cake, however I made custard to go with mine.

This is such an easy and quick cake to make with very little effort. Its a lovely nice treat for Sunday dessert or afternoon tea.

If using tinned pineapple, try using the one in its own juice rather than in syrup. I added some of the juice to the sponge, too.



I used a fan assisted oven to bake this cake and baked it at 180°C and it seemed about the right temperature (see Cooking conversion table for more details).

Ingredients

1 pinch of butter (for greasing)
2 tablespoon(s) caster sugar
6 slice(s) pineapple(s) (from a can plus 3 tablespoons of the juice)
11 glace cherries (approx. 75g total weight)
100 gram(s) plain flour
1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
¼ teaspoon(s) bicarbonate of soda
100 gram(s) butter (soft)
100 gram(s) caster sugar
2 medium egg(s)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Butter a tarte Tatin tin (24cm wide at the top and 20cm diameter at the bottom) or use a 23cm cake tin (neither loose-bottomed nor springform). I have found that the best way of keeping this swift, is by baking it in my copper tarte Tatin tin; if you are using a regular cake tin, be prepared to add a few minutes on to the cooking time.
• Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar on top of the buttered base, and then arrange the pineapple slices to make a circular pattern as in the picture.
• Fill each pineapple ring with a glace cherry, and then dot one in each of the spaces in between.
• Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, butter, caster sugar and eggs into a food processor and run the motor until the batter is smooth. Then pour in the 3 tablespoons of pineapple juice to thin it a little.
• Pour this mixture carefully over the cherry-studded pineapple rings; it will only just cover it, so spread it out gently.
• Bake for 30 minutes, then ease a spatula around the edge of the tin, place a plate on top and, with one deft - ha! - move, turn it upside-down.