On Making a Humble Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The Recipe



First of all, I would like to list the ingredients I used below with which I attained some success.  I will talk about how I failed and the adjustments I made.

The Skillet

I used my 10" cast iron skillet so I could finish baking the cake in the oven.  Anything that goes into the oven works.

The Mixer

A $1 whisk and my hands.

Fruit Base

  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter.  It doesn't need to be melted because it will be heated up with brown sugar.  I personally think this can be reduced to 1/5 or 1/6 cup.
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  This can be reduced to 1/3 cup in my opinion.  You are good as long as it covers the bottom of the skillet.
  • Pineapples.  I used canned rings.  The shape doesn't really matter.  Whether it's fresh or not doesn't really matter either.
  • Cherries.  This is classic but optional.  I didn't have any cherries so I didn't incorporate them.  They certainly would make the cake look a lot better.

Cake (Everything at Room Temperature )

  • 1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter.  Some recipes call for vegetable oil.
  • 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar.  You can do more or less.  I added only a bit of sugar because we eat less sweet.  Most recipes call for 3/4 cup.
  • 2 eggs.  Some recipes call for one, some call for three.  I'd take the average.
  • 1/2 cup of pineapple juice.  You will have some pineapple juice if you use canned pineapples.  If you don't, try milk or butter milk.
  • 225g all-purpose flour.  You can up this a bit for more cake but not by a lot.
  • A pinch or two of salt.
  • 1 tea spoon of baking powder.
  • 1/4 tea spoon of baking soda (optional but I added it).

The References

Usually, I refer to at a minimum three recipes before making a dish.  In this case, I referred to at very least seven different recipes.  I ultimately distilled my own recipe from the following two links.  I prefer the cooking method in the YouTube video.
First of all, preheat the oven to 350F.

Fruit Base

  1. Add the brown sugar and butter to the pan to melt them. 
  2. Once some bubbles develop, optionally, you can add a table spoon of pineapple juice to the pan and stir.  Make sure the mixture covers the bottom of the pan well.  
  3. Add pineapples and remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.  Note that heating up the sugar and butter seems optional.  Some recipes don't do it.  They instead whisk melted butter and brown sugar together and lay the mixture in the pan.

The Batter

  1. Whisk the melted butter and white sugar together.  When done, the cream shouldn't stick on the whisk.
  2. Incorporate the eggs one by one.  If the eggs are not at room temperature, at some point, some lumps will form because the butter in the mixture is cooled down too much.
  3. Mix in the pineapple juice.  Again, make sure it's not cold.
  4. Sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  I did this in batches and mixed it in by whisking slowly and gently.  We don't want the gluten to develop.

The Cake

  1. Pour the batter into the pan, on top of the fruit base.  Spread the batter evenly.  I used a silicone scrapper to do it.
  2. Place the pan into the preheated oven at 350F for 35-45 minutes.  I baked the cake for 45 minutes so the perimeter was crispy.  To test whether the cake is well done, I usually stick my thermometer into the cake, all the way through, and see if it comes out clean.  If some batter sticks to the thermometer probe, bake it for another 5-10 minutes and test again.
  3. Let the cake cool down for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack.
  4. Run a butter knife along the edge of the pan to release the cake.
  5. Place a plate over the top and flip the pan over.  If the cake doesn't release at once, shake or tap the pan a few times.

The Failure




When I made a pineapple upside down cake the first time, other than the rim of the cake, the cake was all dense and gluey.  It wasn't very enjoyable.  I was pretty frustrated to see and taste it.  After some research, I figured that the problem was that I added all the ingredients into the mixing bowl at once and mixed them quickly and forcefully.  As a result, major gluten developed.  After watching several different videos on how several different types of cakes are made, I realized that the pros mix in the ingredients slowly, one-by-one.  They even make sure the eggs are at room temperature before incorporating them one by one.  I'll quote the referred blog post below.

"Lesson learned: beat butter and sugar and eggs at medium speed. Once you add flour, mix gently."

"Developing the flour's gluten too much means the cake will rise beautifully in the oven – then sink (a little, or a lot) as soon as you pull it out.  And the sinking cake is what makes dense, moist, gluey streaks."

As shown in the pictures above, my first cake sunk a lot as soon as I pulled it out of the oven.  Only the rim stood.  This is why I got almost no "cake".  And it indeed rose in the oven beautifully.  My second cake didn't rise and fall a lot.  And as shown in one of the pictures in section "The Cooking" above, the surface is flat. 

It is not an easy task for newbies like me to reach any sort of consistency by whisking the ingredients together by hand.  So, using a stand mixer isn't a bad idea.  It greatly reduces the variables from your baking process.

I don't know how to fix the problem once the gluten has already developed.  One thing that came to my mind was mixing in some yeast, kneading it, and letting it rise.  Would it become bread?

The second time I made this cake, I used pineapple juice instead of milk, butter instead of vegetable oil, way less sugar, and no vanilla extract.  After some research, it seems if you want, you don't have to add any sugar, meaning sugar doesn't facilitate the this particular baking process, it's for the taste only.  I was very happy with the result.  However, my wife wants even less sugar.  Next time, I will try not to add any white granulated sugar and to add a bit of honey for the hint.

Reference

Experiments

Pineapple Through-out Cake (Not Recommended)

I tried to mix chopped pineapples into the cake mixture, hoping I could get fruits throughout the cake.  The outcome was disappointing.  With three rings' worth of pineapples added, after the baking process, I could barely spot and taste the pineapples.  I think to take this idea further, I would need to heat up the pineapples in butter-brown sugar mixture, let them cool, and mix them it.  A potentially viable idea is to mix in other fruits that are sweeter and hold together better.  How about cherries?

A Bit of Lemon Juice (Recommended)

I tried to add a bit of lemon juice into the cake.  I think I added about 1 teaspoon.  I believe this added more flavor to the cake.  I would like to experiment with fruit juices with stronger flavor in the future.

Baking Powder VS Baking Soda

When in doubt, use baking powder because it's a self-contained leavener.  Baking soda needs acidic ingredients to go with it, such as butter milk.  I believe baking powder contains both baking soda and acidic substances.  As a result, you pay a bit more for baking powder for the convenience.  I added both because my baking powder expired two years ago.  The baking soda was my insurance.  I was hoping it would react with the butter and/or the pineapple juice added.

Reference

Baking Videos I Enjoyed Watching Lately

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