Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I feel like I post way too many recipes for dessert. It makes me wonder if it’s an indicator that we eat too many treats. Homemade is always better so I can justify it that way. Realistically, I think that one of the ways to get my family to try news foods is to introduce those foods in an appealing way.  I don’t want to be the big bad pusher of yucky foods. It’s a process. A little taste here and there makes them more likely to find something they’ll like. That’s my idea on this anyway.

Both my kids have shied away from maraschino cherries, even though I tell them that they taste like candy. I rarely have them in the house unless I’m making something specific like this cake because they are loaded with food coloring. The little market near my house had some natural maraschino cherries and I took that as a sign to make pineapple upside down cake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round pan with the softened butter. Sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of pan.

Drain pineapple slices, reserving 1/2 cup of juice. Arrange pineapples slices on top of the brown sugar in pan.

Place one cherry in the center of each pineapple slice. You should have 2 or 3 leftover pineapple slices. Puree those slices with a fork.

Stir dry ingredients together. Add liquid ingredients and quickly combine until just blended. Do not overmix. Pour batter over pineapples in pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake. Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then place an inverted plate over the pan and flip.

I think this was the first time that I made this cake the right way. That instruction about not over-baking has always made me take out the cake before it was fully cooked and was still soupy in the middle. This time I was more patient hopefully because I’m becoming more confident in my baking.

This is one of my husband’s favorite cakes so I would guess that he would rate it  5 stars. The kids wouldn’t eat the cake but my son finally tried some maraschino cherries and liked them.