Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

See the Caramel brittle pieces on the sides?

This is after the cake had been more-or-less demolished, with a big piece of the caramel brittle left over.

Pineapple upside down cake is a pre-school staple, as I recall. Along with nasty tapioca pudding, graham crackers, and over-cooked carrots. However, the idea of it is so deliciously like something Curious George or the French orphan Madeline would love, that I cannot help but love it too. It reminds me of rainy puddle splashing days in small bright raincoats with shiny red wellies and discarded umbrellas. Anyway, on a dreary summer morning in Oxford, it seemed the best breakfast I could muster. (I know one shouldn't eat cake for breakfast, but at least I have all day to work it off, right?) Anyway, I found this recipe for pineapple upside down cake at Smitten Kitchen, an insanely great recipe blog, and I decided to veganize it for breakfast. The great thing about this recipe is that the topping of the cake is a delicious and super-easy caramel, and the cake has rum in it, as well. I'm moving out of my student accommodation on Saturday this week, so I'm trying not to go grocery shopping again before I move and I only have certain ingredients left in the flat, including a tub of vegan sunflower spread (vegan margarine), so I used that instead of butter, and for the eggs I used the old cornstarch substitution, but instead of mixing it with water, I used rum, both because I'd like to finally finish off the bottle I bought at Christmastime and because who wouldn't want a tad more rum in a rum and pineapple breakfast cake, hmmm? Anyway, here's the recipe, so enjoy!

Topping:

1 can pineapple chunks, or equivalent fresh pineapple (enough to cover the bottom of your cake pan)

6 Tbsp vegan margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

Cake:

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

6 Tbsp vegan margarine (I suppose if you wanted to go lower fat you could substitute apple sauce for the margarine in the cake batter, but for the topping you really NEED the fat)

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

3 Tbsp + 1tsp dark rum

3/4 cup pineapple juice (I just used the juice from the can)

2 Tbsp dark rum for sprinkling over the finished cake

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.

Melt butter over medium heat in non-stick frying pan. When it has melted and is just simmering, add the brown sugar and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes. Scrape the caramel into the bottom of an ungreased cake pan (9 in round, square, or similar). Arrange pineapple artfully on top of caramel (I used concentric circles...ish, since I used a square pan).

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, beat the margarine until fluffy-ish (If using apple sauce, don't worry when you can't make it fluffy). Gradually add sugar and continue beating. Mix Cornstarch and rum in a little bowl, or cup measure and when combined, pour them into butter-sugar mixture.

Add half of flour mixture and beat until just blended (overbeating may make the cake tough). Beat in pineapple juice, then remainder of flour. Batter may look slightly curdled, but its okay.

Spoon batter over pineapple in cake pan and spread evenly.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until cake tests done when poked with a toothpick.

After removing from the oven, let cake stand for five minutes and then run a spatula around the edges just to loosen the crispy caramel bits stick to the sides. Invert a plate over the top of the pan, and then invert cake onto the plate. Replace any pineapple and caramely bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. (I ended up with some big pieces like brittle, which I served broken up alongside the cake.) Sprinkle the remaining 2 Tbsp of rum over the finished cake and serve warm. mmmmm.....

Alternatively, you can make this cake one day ahead and refrigerate overnight. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Also, if you're not concerned about fat, and like an even richer cake, substitute coconut milk for the pineapple juice and make a scrumptious Pina Colada Upside Down Cake!!! It's the perfect reminder of the tropics on a rainy summer day.