Pineapple Upside Down Cake With Dried Cherries Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Put 1/2 cup butter into a 9x13-inch cake pan and heat in the preheated oven until melted. Remove from oven and brush sides of pan with some of the melted butter.
• Evenly sprinkle brown sugar over the melted butter in the pan. Place pineapple rings on top of the sugar-butter layer. Place maraschino cherries in the middle of the pineapple rings and decorate in between as desired. Reserve 1/2 cup crushed pineapple and fill the gaps with remaining crushed pineapple to completely cover the pan. Drain the reserved crushed pineapple very well.
• Combine cake mix, 1 cup pineapple juice, eggs, and 1/2 cup melted butter in a large bowl; beat using an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Mix in rum and the reserved 1/2 cup crushed pineapple. Stir to thoroughly combine. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth out with a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, making sure not to push all the way through the bottom of the cake, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Remove cake from the oven and immediately run a knife around the edge of the pan to thoroughly loosen it from the sides. Let cool in pan for a few minutes. Place serving platter upside-down over the pan while cake is still warm and, holding both together, flip over and leave pan on for a couple minutes. Slowly and carefully lift cake pan from cake.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Place cherries in a small heat-proof bowl. Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour over dried cherries, and soak for 10 minutes. Drain well, and coarsely chop. Using a wide Japanese mandoline, slice whole pineapple as thinly as possible. Set aside. Sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
• Heat 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in a 10 1/2-inch cast-iron skillet. Cook until deep amber, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Spread caramel evenly to coat the bottom of the skillet, and sprinkle with dark-brown sugar.
• Center one piece of pineapple in the skillet. Place pineapple slices in a tightly overlapping circle. Make a second ring, completely covering the bottom and continuing at least halfway up the sides. Place one remaining slice in the center of the skillet on top of the circles. (Be certain that there are no gaps as the bottom will be the top upon inversion).
• In a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream remaining butter, remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, and vanilla-bean scrapings. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour in milk and almond extract. Slowly add sifted flour, scraping sides as needed. Using a rubber spatula, fold in chopped cherries. Pour batter into pineapple-lined skillet. Spread batter evenly with an offset spatula.
• Place skillet on a prepared baking sheet, and transfer baking sheet to oven. Bake until golden brown and cake tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour cream into the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Add rum. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, 45 to 60 seconds. Remove cake from oven, and pour excess liquid from skillet into a measuring cup. Carefully invert onto large cake plate, and pour reserved liquid over cake. Serve with rum-spiked whipped cream.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). In 13x9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.
• Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 cup. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
• Bake 42 to 48 minutes (44 to 53 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease 2 x 20cm round cake tins and line bases and sides with baking parchment. Scatter the 2 tbsp caster sugar in the base of one of the tins. Drain the pineapple over a bowl to catch the juices. Measure 100ml of juice into a big mixing bowl. Pat dry 3 pineapple rings with kitchen paper and halve horizontally. Arrange in the sugared tin, then add the glacé cherries.
• Add the melted butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla and eggs to the pineapple juice, and beat with an electric whisk until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins - it should be runny enough to pour over the pineapple to cover. Bake for 30 mins or until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Leave for 5 mins, then turn out the cakes onto a wire rack (pineapple-side up), peel off the parchment and cool.
• Spread the jam over the cooled sponge without the pineapple. Whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until thick, then spoon over the jam. Gently sit the pineapple sponge on top, and dust with a little icing sugar. Best eaten within 48 hours.