Pineapple upside down cake in 12 inch cast iron skillet

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
The recipe...

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Use the middle oven rack

In a 10 -12 inch cast iron skillet:
Goo:
1/4 cup butter melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can of sliced pineapple, you'll need 6-8 slices  (reserve 1/4 cup juice for cake)
6-12 maraschino cherries
6-8 pecan halves

2 step Batter:
3 eggs separated
1 cup flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice
2 Tablespoons honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a 10-12 inch iron skillet melt the butter, 
add the brown sugar on medium heat.
Let brown sugar become bubbly.  
Stir to incorporate the butter.
Turn off heat, the pan will stay very warm. 

Gently, lay in pineapple slices on top of the brown sugar.  
Rest a cherry inside each pineapple ring.
If using, lay pecans in open spaces, face down.

For the batter:
Mix flour, salt and baking powder together 
in a small bowl, set aside.

Beat 3 egg yolks with a mixer until light in color.
Add sugar and continue beating.
Add pineapple juice and honey and vanilla.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, whip 3 egg whites with an electric mixer
until fluffy soft peaks form (4-5 minutes)-set aside.

Add the flour/baking powder/salt mixture 
to the egg yolk/sugar/pineapple juice mixture a little at a time.

Once all the flour is incorporated, 
gently fold in the fluffy egg whites with a spatula.
Mix until no streaks of white are visible.

Pour batter into the warm skillet, 
covering the pineapple, cherries and pecans.
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven on the middle rack for about 20 minutes.
The cake will be light brown, check for done-ness with a toothpick.

Let finished cake rest in HOT skillet for 10-15 minutes.

CAREFULLY...  
Using a larger plate than the skillet,
 invert the warm cake onto the serving plate or platter.

Let cool and serve.

TIPS: 
The cake can be made in a cake pan... if you don't own an iron skillet.  
Adjust the baking times...because an iron skillet gets very warm 
and bakes the cake faster than a traditional cake pan might.

Let the hot-out-of the-oven cake rest 10-15 minutes... but not longer than 20 before inverting.  The key here is to let the cake be solid enough and cool enough to flip, without being dangerous...BUT...if you leave the cake in the pan too long, (longer than 20 minutes or so) it won't come out at all, when the sugar and yummy pineapple goodness cool off and firm up...

Be sure your cake or platter is larger than the skillet.

Using a cake plate or platter the same shape as the skillet is helpful.

If this is your fist time inverting the cake, get a helper... the iron skillet can be heavy... but you can do it!!  

Prep: 20 min. Bake: 30 min. + cooling

8 servings

For a change of pace, you can substitute fresh or frozen peach slices for the pineapple in this old-fashioned recipe. —Bernardine Melton, Paola, Kansas

Skillet Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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