Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Recently, I’ve been having some dental work to replace the old amalgam fillings from childhood with some new composite to make my mouth look less like I have molars full of coal. I had some great fun getting those cavities, let me tell you. My sweet tooth should have had a mouth of its own, so it would have wreaked less havoc in the teeth surrounding it.

Oh, my goodness! My mom could take a blank canvas, like boxed yellow cake mix, and suddenly the kitchen was a bright, warm place of anticipation . . . oh, the aroma! Mouthwatering, savoring excitement awaited us for dessert. And it was forever until dinner...so we had to find other things to do while waiting.

I helped, of course, by finding the lumps in the brown sugar and placing them on my tongue to melt slowly. When one lump was gone, I was on the hunt for another, but my mom was too quick for me. That’s OK, there were beaters to lick, later on.

There was joy in the kitchen, and I was happy to be there, as it was the hub of our home. And so it goes, another family tradition carried on.

Mom’s Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Make in a 13x9 pan, generally baked at 350 degrees, time according to directions on box

1 box of yellow, or vanilla cake mix

1 can of pineapple rings, drained and juice reserved

1 jar of maraschino cherries

Eggs and Oil according to the directions on box

(I like to use melted butter in place of oil -1 stick of butter 1/2 cup)

 Brown sugar, light or dark, and lots of it, probably close to 3 cups

The recipe is primarily similar to the directions on the box, with a few substitutions.

Unwrap the butter and place it into the cake pan and then into the preheating oven.

When it is melted, remove it from the oven and sprinkle the brown sugar generously over the bottom of the pan, until the butter is absorbed and you can’t see the pan anymore.

Place the pineapple rings over the brown sugar, cutting some in half if you need to, so the whole pan has pineapple filling it. It’s not necessary to overlap.

Take the maraschino cherries and fill in the holes and empty spots between and inside the pineapple rings.

Set this aside.

To make the cake, dump the mix into a large bowl. In place of water, use the reserved juice from the can of pineapple rings. If you don’t have enough, add some juice from the jar of cherries. Add the eggs and oil (or melted butter), according to package directions. Beat it all up with your mixer.

When mixed, pour the mixture over the prepared pan and spread it evenly. I tend to overbeat and it comes out pretty thick.

Pop it into the preheated oven and bake until it tests done. While it’s baking, prepare a place to “Upside-down” it. My mom covered the bottom of a cookie sheet with foil. I had a big old Tupperware cake keeper I used, but still covered with foil.

When you remove it from the oven to a cooling rack, let it sit for a moment and make sure the cake is not stuck to the sides of the pan. Then cover it with your long pan, use pot holders on each side as you hold it, and invert it.

Once you remove the cake pan, you’ll see and smell a gloriously browned and sweet upside- down cake. Cool before cutting.

Note: Don’t use fresh pineapple for this, it’s not the same.