Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

For the Topping:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 20 ounce can pineapple rings, drained and patted dry (I prefer Dole)
• Marichino cherries, stems removed and patted dry*

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

For the Topping:

1. Pour melted butter into a 9 inch pie dish. Swirl to coat the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the bottom of the dish.
2. Place one of the pineapple slices right in the center of the dish. Arrange 6 more slices evenly around it. If desired, you can cut the remaining slices into halves and place them around the sides of the dish. Place a cherry into the center of each pineapple, including the ones on the sides of the dish. You can fill the other gaps with more cherries, if desired.

For the Cake:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the milk and sour cream in a large measuring cup or a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
5. Add a third of the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in half of the sour cream mixture until just combined. Mix in another third of the flour. Mix in the remaining sour cream mixture. Finish mixing in the remaining flour.
6. Pour the batter into the pie dish. Carefully spread around to the edges of the dish with a rubber spatula.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out mostly clean. You can cover the top with foil after about 30 minutes of baking if the cake is browning too quickly.
8. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Invert the cake onto a cake stand or your desired serving dish. Cool for an additional 20 minutes, or completely before serving. Enjoy!

*Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

*Be sure to pat your fruit completely dry with a paper towl before adding to the bottom of your pie dish. This will ensure that you have no bleeding of colors and the cake will come out looking prettier.

*I like to use a clear glass pie dish for this cake, that way when inverting onto the cake platter I can see when the cake is completely loose from the dish. This helps me not to pull the dish away too quickly, causing the cake to break and crumble.

*You can save the pineapple juice in an airtight container in the fridge for some other recipes. I like to make this cake for Easter and use the leftover pineapple juice in my ham for some added flavor.

Serves: 6-8