I love my cast iron, both those pieces I bought and those that were passed down to me. One of the first things I learned to do was take care of my pans. I had to learn not to soak them in the sink, to reseason them as needed, and to cook steaks and pineapple upside-down cake in different pans.
One of my favorite recipes that I bake in my cast iron (after cornbread) is (gluten-free optional) pineapple upside-down cake. Here is a good recipe that I bake in my 12-inch cast iron skillet for potlucks, etc. This will feed a crowd, but get some quickly because it will be all gone.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks butter
- 3/4 – 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark, I prefer dark)
- use the larger amounts if you have a larger skillet.
Start by melting the butter in the skillet in the oven while the oven preheats to 350F. When the butter is melted, cover it with brown sugar. Mix and then smooth the butter and sugar so it completely covers the bottom of the pan. If you need more sugar, add it, a little at a time, until the bottom of the pan is covered. Set the pan aside while you make the cake.
- 1 large can crushed pineapple or 2 cans pineapple rings or some of both, drained with the juice saved
- 1 box King Arthur yellow gluten-free cake mix or 1 box regular Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme cake mix OR make your own yellow or pineapple cake
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 2 T oil (canola or something that doesn’t have much flavor – not olive or avocado or anything like that)
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup pineapple juice or syrup
- 1 small jar maraschino cherries
Instructions
- Make the cake mix following the directions on the box with the following changes:
- Use 1 stick of melted unsalted butter and 2 Tablespoons of oil
- Instead of milk or water, use the pineapple juice that you drained from the pineapple. If you don’t have enough liquid, make up the difference with water. Or, if you know you don’t have enough liquid, make up the difference with milk and add it into the batter separately from the pineapple juice.
- Use 4 eggs instead of 3
- Arrange the pineapple on top of the brown sugar-butter mixture. I like to use rings, fill in the center of each ring with a maraschino cherry, and fill in the empty spaces with crushed pineapple. (I want a lot of pineapple on my cake.) Some people just use rings, and others just use crushed pineapple.
- Carefully spoon the batter over the top of the pineapple.
- Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes or at least start checking at 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the skillet to cool for about 5 minutes, then immediately invert onto a serving platter. If you lose a slice or two of pineapple, just take a spoon or spatula and put it back in place. No one will care if the cake isn’t picture perfect.
- Eat while warm, and if any is left, wrap tightly and store in the refrigerator for a day. This is best eaten the same day.
If you have questions, drop me a line. I couldn’t get a pix of mine because it was gone. This is not quite the same, because there are spaces where there isn’t any pineapple. that will not do! This would be more like mine if the empty spaces were filled with crushed pineapple.