Week 22 - Pineapple Upside Down Cake
In many of my vintage and retro cookbooks there is one recipe that appears over and over again. That recipe is for pineapple upsidedown cake. So, for week 22 I decided to try my hand at it, using the recipe from the 1959 cookbook "The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook". I had pineapple upside down cake occasionally when I was younger and I remembered liking it a great deal. I love the way it looks, with its rings of pineapple and cherries. Since the beginning of this cookbook challenge I knew this was one recipe that I was definitely going to try.
The 1959 addition of "The New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook"
The recipes for "Upside Down Cake" and "Cottage Pudding"
The recipe in this cookbook is simply called "Upside Down Cake" and is actually just instructions on how to assemble it, not a recipe for the cake itself. The cake batter part of the recipe is called "Cottage Pudding", which is simple, slightly dense white cake. The recipe gives you the option for making this with either peaches or pineapple. Unlike many variations of this recipe that I have seen, this one called for pecans which goes really well with the fruit and adds some texture. Although this particular recipe did not call for cherries, I've never seen a pineapple upside down cake without them so decided to add them to mine.
Some of the ingredients for pineapple upside down cake
The cake is pretty easy to assemble. You simply spread brown sugar, butter and the nuts on the bottom of a pan, arrange the fruit, cover with cake batter and bake in the oven.
Pineapples and cherries arranged and ready for batter.
The cake batter added on top.
Once baked, you just turn the cake upside down onto a serving plate and you've got yourself dessert.
The close-up of the final cake, turned upside down.
The top or bottom, depending on how you look at it, did get a bit darker than I wanted, but it was still moist and delicious. The cake is best served warm and although we did eat some a few days later, I think it is probably best eaten right away.
Pineapple upside down cake a la mode.
Cookbook: "The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook" published in 1959
Recipe: Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Difficulty: Very easy
Alterations: I added cherries
Results: Delightful
Make Again: Yes