Wow! We haven’t had Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in years. The last one was made in a skillet, partly on the stove and partly in the oven, and was quite good, but it required a good bit of work. So, when we picked up a pineapple and thought once again about making this all-American cake, we turned to Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home. We just love his recipes: they’re very detailed, always work, and are delicious.
We did change his recipe somewhat by modifying the “pan schmear” to make just the perfect amount, which meant we had to omit the dark rum (we didn’t have any in the house, anyway) in addition to scaling back to 1/4 of the original amount.
Thomas Keller’s Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
Pan schmear
- 28 g unsalted butter, room temperature (2 Tbs)
- 5 g honey (1 tsp)
- 50 g brown sugar (1/4 packed cup)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Kosher salt
Cake
- 1 gold pineapple you'll use about half
- 135 g cake flour (1 1/3 cups)
- 10 g baking powder (2 tsp)
- 114 g unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick or 8 Tbs)
- 80 g granulated sugar (1/2 cup + 2 Tbs)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 20 g buttermilk or milk (4 tsp)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8- or 9- inch cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment.
Pan schmear
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat on low until mixed, then increase speed and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Spread pan schmear in an even layer across the bottom of the cake pan. Lightly sprinkle with kosher salt.
Cake
- Using a chef's knife, slice the top off the pineapple, then slice off the sides. Slice off the bottom. Stand the pineapple on end and cut into quarters. Cut out the core. Slice the pineapple quarters into into slices 1/8 inch thick, and, working from the outside of the pan towards the center, layer overlapping pieces of pineapple over the pan schmear. Reserve remaining pineapple for another use.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer (no need to clean) fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on low until mixed. Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 3 minutes.
- Add extract and beat in. Add eggs, one at a time, beating in completely before adding the next. Beat in buttermilk or milk.
- Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing on low just long enough to incorporate.
- Scrape batter over the top of the pineapple, using a spatula to even the surface.
- Bake 15 minutes, rotate the pan for even browning, then bake an additional 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge, place a serving plate over the top and invert to release cake, then peel away the parchment.
Ingredient discussion:
The pineapple: use a fresh pineapple. The stuff in cans just doesn’t taste like anything. Sure, it seems daunting to cut apart a pineapple, but, with a sharp chef’s knife and a bit of practice, you’ll have it cut into pieces in under 5 minutes.
Procedure in detail:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8- or 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment to help prevent sticking. The original recipe called for a 9-inch silicone cake pan without butter, so, if you have that, by all means use it. Otherwise, go with the old standby of pure butter.
Pan schmear:
Cream and spread. Place the butter, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start on low until the sugar is incorporated, then increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes or until the pan schmear is uniform and fluffy. Scrape the mixture into the cake pan, and use a spatula (we have a small offset spatula that works perfectly) to spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with just a bit of kosher salt. No need to clean the mixer bowl or paddle now.
Cake:
Cut pineapple and layer. This might be the hardest part of making this cake, but, as we said above, it’s not bad. Just follow these steps: 1) cut off the top of the pineapple, 2) cut off the sides, followed by 3) cutting off the bottom. Discard all the pieces you cut away, and, if needed, trim up the sides to remove any eyes that remain. You’re most of the way through. All you need to do is: 4) stand the pineapple on end and cut into quarters from top to bottom. The center is the tough core, so, 5) cut away the core and discard. Finally, place a quarter on its side and slice into 1/8 inch thick slices. Layer the slices in overlapping rings on the bottom of the pan, alternating the direction between layers. See, not bad, and you have some pineapple left for another use (we just eat it by the bowlful).
Sift flour. Cake flour tends to clump, so take the time and sift together the flour and baking powder. If you don’t have a sifter, whisk the two together very thoroughly, trying for a light, fluffy mixture.
Cream butter and sugar. Place the butter and sugar in the stand mixer fitted with the paddle. (We figured that the bit of pan schmear left in the bowl and on the paddle won’t hurt anything, so we didn’t wash either after making the schmear). Turn the mixer on low and beat until the sugar and butter are combined. Increase speed and beat until the mixture is fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add vanilla. Measure in the vanilla extract and beat in.
Add eggs. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until completely combined before adding the next. The mixture might look as if it’s curdled, but, don’t worry. Forge ahead and make your cake; just let the mixer run for about a minute between each egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add buttermilk. Add the buttermilk (or milk) and beat in. At this point, our cake batter really looked curdled and a mess, but we knew that it would all come together in the end. And it did. So, if you’re worried, don’t be; it’ll be fine.
Add flour. Add the flour mixture in three additions, mixing on low after each just long enough to incorporate. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
Fill cake pan. Scrape the batter — it’s quite thick — into the cake pan and use a spatula to spread it into an even layer. Again, we used a small offset spatula that worked perfectly, but we think that even the back of a spoon with be fine.
Bake. Place the cake in the center of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the cake pan to ensure even browning, then bake an additional 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
Invert. Run a sharp knife around the edge, and, since this is an upside-down cake, place a serving platter over the top and invert to release the cake. Peel away parchment to reveal your masterpiece.
This is a very good cake, not super sweet, slightly dry, which is distracting, although the pineapple and pan schmear help moisten it. We found it so tasty that we had to have two slices each, and it’s not often that we go overboard on desserts. This recipe makes a cake as good as the other recipe we’ve used in the past, but it’s easier to make. We’ll have to give it a full five stars.
