Original Pineapple Upside-Down Skillet Cake
How was this iconic recipe born? No one knows for sure. Skillet cakes — featuring fruit and sugar in the bottom of a cast iron skillet, topped with cake batter and cooked atop the stove — were common in both Europe and America for centuries. So it stands to reason that pineapple would eventually make its way into a skillet cake — which it did, probably sometime during the 1920s. At any rate, this version, with its bounty of both pineapple and cherries atop a brown sugar syrup-drenched golden cake, is a winner.
Prep
20 mins
Bake
35 to 45 mins
Total
55 mins
Yield
one 9" cake
Ingredients
Cake
— 1 2/3 cups (200g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
— 2 teaspoons baking powder
— 3/4 teaspoon table salt
— 2 large eggs, yolks separated from whites, at room temperature
— 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
— 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
— 1/2 cup (113g) milk, at room temperature
— 1 tablespoon (14g) King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
Reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon if you use salted butter.
Topping
— 4 tablespoons (57g) butter, cold
— 3/4 cup (160g) light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, packed
— One 20-ounce (567g) can pineapple rings, drained
— 2 dozen maraschino cherries
Instructions
① Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" cast iron skillet (it should measure 9" across the bottom; the top diameter may be greater than 9"). Or lightly grease a 9" x 2"-deep square cake pan.
② Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set the mixture aside.
③ Whisk the egg yolks to combine; set them aside. Beat the whites, separately, until light and frothy.
④ Beat the butter until soft and smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar.
⑤ Add the egg yolks, beating to combine. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat again, until smooth.
⑥ Add the milk alternately with the flour mixture, mixing gently but thoroughly after each addition.
⑦ Fold in the beaten whites, then the vanilla.
⑧ To make the topping, melt the butter in the skillet, and sprinkle the sugar evenly on top. Space pineapple rings atop the sugar.
⑨ Spoon the batter on top.
⑩ Bake the cake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
⑪ Remove the cake from the oven. Loosen its edges. CAREFULLY turn the cake upside-down onto a serving plate. Lift the pan off the cake, scraping any pineapple or brown sugar from the pan onto the cake, if it sticks.
⑫ Place the cherries artfully atop the warm cake, pressing them in gently.
⑬ Serve the cake warm, or at room temperature. Store it at room temperature, well-wrapped, for several days; freeze for longer storage.
