I love pineapple, but whenever I buy one it seems to last a long time. I took some from a storage container in the fridge yesterday and decided to use it up by making a pineapple upside down cake. I didn't have a recipe, so I got out a box of baking mix and improvised.
Dumping a couple cups into a bowl, I added some sugar, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla, and turned on the mixer. It seemed a little thick and lumpy, then I remembered the key ingredient: Pineapple juice. I had just enough, making the batter the right consistency this time.
Knowing it wouldn't be a huge cake, I decided on an oval, oven-proof glass pan which I stuck in the microwave to melt butter for the topping. After I added brown sugar and the pineapple chunks I had sliced up, I poured the batter over the mixture. The cake rose up and browned beautifully in the oven. Now what to put it on when I took it out? The shape wouldn't fit on a regular cake plate.
My favorite oval platter worked perfectly. Turning it upside down on the platter revealed the golden brown topping embedded with the pineapple bits. It looked luscious, but the proof would be in the tasting. It was delicious! Light and golden and moist!
After it had cooled and we had had a couple of pieces, I started to cover the cake with foil. That might stick, though, I thought. The clear, glass pan I had baked it in might work, turned upside down. I washed and dried it, and of course, it fit perfectly as a cover! The cake glowed jewel-like through the glass, surrounded by the worn, gold-edged curves of the old platter.
We are still enjoying my creation as coffee-cake this morning! Breakfast on the front porch was inviting once again with gorgeous sunshine after days of leaden skies. Somehow the colorful wicker furniture, the flowers and the bright cushions all take on a new glow in the clear, yellow light, imparting a feeling of happiness and cheer. Maybe it's the pineapple! After all, it is a symbol of friendship and hospitality!
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