Sunday, June 14, 2009

Let us eat cake...

Friday was my anniversary. The Man has been working graveyard shifts all week so we didn't really get a chance to do anything. Still it's possible tonight we might go out to eat (thanks mamma and daddy!). At any rate to celebrate I made us a *Pineapple Upside Down cake!

Here is where things get odd. I've made this particular cake a dozen times at least but every time I was at my moms house in AZ (the most recent being this past February). This is the first time I've made it since moving to Utah. It did not work out quite so well..

I have a solid metal pan (I'm not sure what it's made of) and my only thought it that somehow it is the culprit. Though attempt number two at making the cake was done in the exact same pan and came out fine so I don't know...

The first time I made it I followed the recipe very carefully, got all the ingredients put together perfectly (it's HARD to get stiff peaks using a hand mixer yoiks). Anyway I put it in the oven at 325 (per directions) and left it there for 30 minutes. Checked it and it seems like it was baking nicely but needed more time. I left it in for 5 more, then 5 more after that. I pulled it out and cut around the edge and noticed the knife was getting very gooky so threw it back into the oven really quick for another 5 minutes. That's 45 minutes total (directions say 30-35).

After letting it sit for a few minutes I upended it on my cake pan and holy crap it smooshed! It was as it the entire inside portion of the cake batter had not cooked at all. It was disgusting!

I managed to salvage the pineapple (as I hadn't bought any extra) and set about making the cake a second time. No nuts though, they were all mixed in with the cake goop so got washed down the drain with the rest. I made the second cake the exact same way as the first, set the oven temperature a might bit higher (closer to 345 give or take) and cooked it a solid 40 minutes before checking, left it in another 3 minutes or so (so basically 44/45 minutes) before taking it out and letting it cool. When I flipped this one over it was perfect!

I have no idea, oven imps maybe? Yeah the pineapple and cherry on the cake look a little pathetic, that's because they've been cooked twice and had a little batter on both sides of them... Still it's a yummy cake, I'm SO glad the second version came out the way it was supposed too. mmm nothing like a slice of pineapple upside down cake and coffee for breakfast! I can FEEL my hips getting bigger



* Recipe in comments section

2 comments:

Gwyneth said...

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (mama’s recipe)

Cake:
4 Eggs
1 c Sugar
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp Butter melted
1 tsp almond extract

“Topping”:
1 Stick Butter
1 c Light Brown Sugar
½ c Pecans
10 slices pineapple (20 oz, drained)
10 or so maraschino cherries

Separate 4 eggs - the whites will get beaten then have other stuff added, so put them into a large mixer bowl ... the yolks will get beaten then added to the whites mixture, so put them into a small or medium mixer bowl ... let the eggs warm toward room temp while getting other stuff ready

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Melt 1 Tbsp of butter (a generous Tbsp to compensate for what sticks to container when added to batter)
Sift/mix together (into a container you can pour from easily): Flour, Baking powder, and Salt.

In 9x9 baking dish melt: 1 stick butter or oleo. Sprinkle on evenly: 1 cup light brown sugar (since you pack it into the cup to measure it, it will try to stay in one big lump, so either put it through a sifter to sprinkle it or - what I do - scrape it from the measuring cup with a fork to break it into little crumbles). Arrange: pineapple, maraschino cherries and chopped nuts.

Beat the egg whites to soft peak stage, gradually beat in Sugar and continue beating to stiff peak stage.

Beat the egg yolks until thick and yellow, fold yolks and flour mixture into whites and sugar. Fold in: the Tbsp of melted butter and 1 tsp almond extract.

Spread batter evenly over pineapple and bake 30 to 35 minutes at 325 degrees, or until surface will recover from denting (under-cooking is worse than slightly over-cooking, since the center tends to fall anyway)

Remove from oven and loosen edge of cake from pan with a knife; let stand 5 minutes. Invert on serving plate (or tray or cookie sheet)

360_gandering said...

Measured with the wrong cup and got too much sugar or too little flour? Forgot to put in the yolks? Metal pans do cook differently than glass/ceramic ones but it isn't by much, so that should not have been a problem (and you used the same pan second try, didn't you?). I can't think of anything that would cause it to be goopy if you mixed it accurately and cooked it right.
I'm glad the second one turned out okay.

Thoughts...

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