 MyStoriesAndPoems.com loves delicious desserts just like you!
One of webmaster/author R. Renée Bembry's favorite desserts is Pineapple Upside Down Cake, especially when made from scratch. Make one yourself using her easy to follow video recipe and instructions. Kids... Cooking is a skill everyone should undertake and this easy to follow pineapple upside down cake recipe is a good place to start making cakes from scratch. Ask an adult to either help with your cake making or to make this dessert for you while you watch and learn. Start with Part I instructions (below) to prepare and bake the cake. Then watch Part II instructions (below Part I) on how to remove pineapple upside down cake from a pan and prepare delicious servings. Pineapple upside downs made from scratch bake well in metal baking pans, glass baking dishes, and skillets with heat resistant handles. When using skillets, cast iron skillets usually work best. Before You Begin...
Make sure you have all ingredients and utensils at hand. Nothing like finding out you don't have enough eggs after you begin mixing ingredients; or discovering the pan you plan to bake in sits in the refrigerator filled with leftovers when you get ready to pour batter in it.
Since pineapple upside down cakes are literally served upside down, preparing them means beginning with ingredients that wind up on top once the cakes are flipped. Therefore, start upside cakes by preparing their topping first.
Step 1—Lubricating baking pan or dish If choosing to bake the cake in a skillet, melt butter or margarine in the skillet. This can be done over the stove or in the oven. If you melt the lubricant in the oven, be sure to use potholders when removing the pan from the oven. Use the basting brush to lubricate the sides of the pan with some of the melted butter or margarine.
If using a metal or glass baking dish you can either melt butter or margarine in a sauce pan or in a microwavable bowl. In case of the sauce pan, set flame at low setting and reduce to simmer after bubbling begins. Be careful not to let the butter or margarine burn. If using microwave, cover butter or margarine to prevent it from splattering and zap it for about thirty seconds. Zap for a few more seconds if necessary. Once melted completely, pour butter or margarine into baking dish. Remove excess butter or margarine from bowl or pan using the basting brush and lubricate the sides of the pan. Step 2— Adding Brown Sugar, Pineapples & Cherries Sprinkle brown sugar evenly across the butter or margarine. Do not stir - stirring is not required.
After brown sugar is spread, lay pineapples from one side of the pan to the other and from top to bottom of the pan. Also place pineapples against the sides of the pan if you want pineapples along the sides of your cake. In this case, slice pineapples in half and set them against the pan with the cut sides downward. Remove stems from cherries and while doing so, squeeze cherries between thumb and forefinger to make sure no pits are present. Maraschino cherries are supposed to be pit-less, but sometimes manufacturers miss a pit or two. Center cherries inside pineapple holes. Tip for weight watchers - Pineapples canned in their own juice have a lot less calories than pineapples canned in syrup. Step 3 - Preparing cake batter Place remaining ingredients in the large bowl and beat them with a mixer for about thirty seconds. Scrape the bowl if necessary after mixing to make sure all ingredients are moistened. Beat a few more seconds if necessary to smooth after scraping bowl.
Step 4 - Pour the Batter Pour batter over topping (ingredients already in pan). Make sure all cherries and flat pineapples are covered. Batter should rest against but not cover sideways pineapples. Sideward fruit will get covered when cake rises.
Step 5 - Bake the Cake Place pan or dish with cake mixings in center of oven and bake about fifty-five minutes. If you live in a high altitude, make normal adjustments you would make when baking a cake for this time period and at this temperature.
If you "must" check the cake periodically, try to avoid opening the oven until the end of the cooking period. Using oven the light to help you see through your oven window is recommended over opening the door, especially if you don't want your cake to sink! Step 6 - Check the Cake When cooking time has expired, cake should appear golden brown and should sit about even with rim of pan. If you lightly press top center of cake, it should spring back without denting.
Check to see if cake is cooked all the way through by inserting a toothpick or a thin blade knife (steak knife or dinner knife) in center of cake. The toothpick or knife should come out clean. If batter is on utensil, leave cake in oven for about five more minutes and then check it again. Step 7 - Cool and Flip the Cake Carefully remove pan of cake from oven using oven mitts and set the cake on a cooling rack for half an hour to forty-five minutes.
After cake has cooled, run back of a knife between edges of cake and pan as an extra precaution to prevent cake from sticking to pan. Here is where you must invert cake onto serving platter so pineapples become top portion of cake. Hence... "Upside Down Cake". To invert the cake, or turn it upside down, place platter over pan, using both hands, hold pan and platter together in a squeezing manner. Quickly flip pan and platter so that platter rotates to the bottom and pan flips to the upper end. Set dish on counter and slowly remove pan from cake. Step 8 - Cover the Cake till ready for Serving
Place serving dish cover around cake or cover it loosely with foil or plastic wrap until you are ready to serve it.
The amount of servings one cake makes depends on how big or small the portions are sliced. Pineapple upside down tastes delicious served warm or cool and goes great with favorite ice-creams. So now for the very best part...Enjoy! |
Parents, teachers, care-givers...
A Pineapple PoemBy R. Renée BembryPineapple - pineappleNot quite a pine Certainly not an apple Makes you wanna grapple Why it's called pineapple Pineapple – pineapple Different from crab apple Could come in drinks like Snapple But what is this pineapple? Hard pokey covered outsides Golden brown and green Soft yellow juicy insides Filled with sweetened rings When peeled and sliced They look oh! so nice And tastes like heaven’s dream Whether eaten alone or With cake and ice cream [Continue slide show after placing cake in oven.] Pineapple Upside Down Cake Slideshow Part 2What are ananas comosus?Deciphering the term "Ananas Comosus" one may decide the first word "ananas" sounds akin to "bananas" and the second word "Comosus" sounds astrological or something of that nature, however, Ananas Comosus is the botanical name for the most popular edible Bromeliaceae plant family member otherwise known as the pineapple. Therefore, simply put, Ananas Comosus are merely pineapples. Terms synonymous with Ananas Comosus include Bromelia Ananas, Sativus Schult, and Ananassa Sativa. Moving on from what we call the plant as a whole to its edible flesh, pineapple fruit has numerous names as well. Travelling across the planet we find that pineapple vernaculars include the South Asian/East Indies "nanas" reference (although Chinese refer to them as "Po-lo-mah"); the Dutch/French "ananas" reference; the Portuguese term "abacaxi"; "Pina" amongst Hispanics; "sweet pine" amongst Jamaicans, and the Guatemalan simple reference - "pine". Most of the approximate 2,000 known species of pineapple are epiphytic. This means the plants may attach themselves to other plants (or even rocks) in a parasitic style of behavior. Despite their attachment, however, Ananas Comosus are not parasitic, and in fact, when attached to other plants, pineapple plants continue to produce their own food through photosynthesis just as their "host" plants do. Since many Ananas Comosus species are stunningly ornamental, green thumbers often grow these rosette eye catchers in their homes. When successfully grown indoors, Ananas Comosus make awe-striking houseplants and may even bear fruit. Descriptively speaking, Ananas Comosus are herbaceous perennials - edible plants. Ananas Comosus may become spiny (spinescent) and tend to be succulent - meaning their thick makeup allow them to store water. These short stocky stemmed plants may grow as much as five feet tall and four feet wide. Thin, spreading leaves, branch out from their stems, grow to lengths of three feet, and become slightly curvaceous. Leaf coloring presents in plain green or with red, white, or yellow streaks. Pineapple crowns surface from stem axes following the eruption of flowers and bracts (modified leaves). Sometimes two or more crowns develop. When more crowns appear, they tend to fuse together. When Ananas Comosus flowers bear fruit, the individual fruits adjoin one another to form lengthy cylindrical shaped pineapples and the Ananas Comosus stems become the pineapples' cores. Pineapple pollination usually occurs with the aid of hummingbirds. When pollination occurs, pineapples, once cut open, contain hardened seeds. Pineapple eaters will rarely come upon hardened pineapple seeds, however, but instead they may notice their pineapples contain soft undeveloped seeds. In efforts to provide consumers with seedless pineapples, the state of Hawaii has outlawed hummingbirds. A single serving (165 grams) of fresh pineapple provides a little more sugar (16 grams) than some may care to eat all at once, however, that same serving contains a very high percentage of Vitamin C (131%). There are many forms in which to eat pineapple including freshly sliced slithers, canned juicy ringlets, and as tangy ingredients in salads as well as delicious pineapple upside down cakes as shown on this page. |