Pineapple and Pecan Upside Down Cake
A classic dessert with a few added twists! I love the citrus flavour of this cake combined with the decadence of the caramel, pineapple and pecans!
A classic pineapple upside down cake has circular pineapple slices, with bright red cherries in the center. Usually when I make it with those circular pineapple slices, the pineapple is often hard to slice through and I end up with a large chunk of pineapple or a piece of cake without any pineapple at all (because my previous bite took the whole piece of pineapple…..you get me? lol). So to aid with this, I decided to use bite-sized pieces instead and to include pecans in the mix. One bite of this cake is filled with that delicious caramel, crunchy pecan, luscious pineapple and the delicate cake. It’s absolutely delicious!
This cake is a head turner….and definitely should be saved for the special ocaasions such as Mother’s Day! Check out my tips on perfecting this below.
Tips for Making this cake:
I used canned pineapples, but you can totally use fresh ones. In fact, it’s better to use the fresh ones. Any remaining pineapple can be stored in the fridge or freezer.
When measuring your flour, make sure and spoon it into your measuring cup, then level. If you just dip into the flour container and measure, it will lead to a denser cake. Pineapple upside down cake is already a little on the dense side because of the weight of the topping, so this will make it even more dense.
You can use vanilla yogurt instead of buttermilk. Or even milk only. But the buttermilk or yogurt will make the cake moister.
Alternate the flour with the milk mixture. For the last flour addition, mix until just combined. And do not overmix! Over-mixing will lead to a super dense cake.
Recipe calls for a cast iron skillet. But you can use a 10 inch cake pan as well. You can make the topping and pour, very quickly, into the cake pan.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon orange extract or zest, or portugal extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/3 cup milk, at room temperature
Topping:
2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 slices of pineapple, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
Method
Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, (one at a time ) and the extract, and continue mixing until combined. Mix the buttermilk and the milk in a measuring cup. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of milk mixture. Mix until just combined- do not over mix!
Make the topping: Pour the sugar into a 10-inch ovenproof cast iron skillet. Heat over medium-low until sugar begins to liquefy; cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar is fully melted and golden. If sugar browns too quickly, briefly remove pan from the heat before continuing. Once melted and golden, remove the pan from heat, and stir in butter.
Arrange pineapple pieces on top of the topping. Sprinkle the pecans in between the pineapple pieces. Carefully spoon the cake batter over pineapples.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then carefully invert onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
