National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day
Today’s food holiday guest post is brought to you by Heather King of Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks! Be sure to follow @HezziD on Twitter, check out her Facebook fan page, and follow her Pinterest boards.
Time for some individual-sized Pineapple Upside Down Cakes to celebrate this day!
Do you know what April 20th is? It’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day! This is one of my favorite desserts of all time and I wanted to find out the history behind it. It turns out that the first upside down cakes came about back in the middle ages when people used to bake fruit in their cakes, it would sink to the bottom, and they would flip them when it was time to serve which left the fruit on the top. The first recipe for a pineapple upside down cake was one that can be found in a 1924 fund-raising cookbook published in Seattle. However, the pineapple upside down cake was not popular in America until the Dole company began publicizing them in the 1940’s.
Now when I think of pineapple upside down cake I always think of our honeymoon in Hawaii. N either of us had been there before and we had the most amazing time. We spent 4 days in Oahu and then 6 days in Maui. Hawaii is absolutely gorgeous and I would go back in a second.
While we were there we ate at some pretty amazing places but one that stands out is Pineapple Grill. Our meal at Pineapple Grill was good but the most memorable part was the pineapple upside down cake. It was moist, topped with rum-caramel sauce, and served with a scoop of macadamia nut ice cream. It was absolute heaven. The best dessert we had in Maui.
Once we were back in Maryland we kept thinking of that pineapple upside down cake. I mentioned this to our friend who goes to Hawaii every year and several weeks later I found a package on my doorstep. Inside our friend had sent me an individual pineapple upside cake pan along with the recipe for pineapple upside cake from Pineapple Grill! Could she be a better friend???
A few weeks later my brother came to town so I made these treats for dessert. They were moist, buttery, and full of pineapple. The caramel-rum sauce is thick and gooey. I couldn’t find macadamia nut ice cream so we just had plain vanilla. These cakes are amazing! They are very close to the original and I bet if I had bought macadamia nut ice cream it would have been the perfect match. These are my new favorite cakes and I can’t wait to make them again! You have to give them a try because they are incredible.
- For the cake:
- 1 T. butter
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1 c. flour
- ½ t. salt
- ½ t. baking soda
- ½ c. sour cream
- 1¼ c. diced fresh pineapple
- 3 T. butter
- 4 T. brown sugar
- ½ t. cinnamon
- For the rum sauce:
- 1 T. butter
- 1 T. sugar
- 1 T. brown sugar
- ½ t. cinnamon
- 2 T. corn syrup
- 2 T. rum
- ½ c. heavy whipping cream
- For serving:
- Vanilla or macadamia nut ice cream
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar using a mixer. Add in the egg and mix for 1 minute.
- Add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix on low speed until everything is well combined.
- Using a spatula fold in the sour cream and vanilla. Set aside.
- In a medium skillet over medium heat melt the 3 tablespoons of butter. Add in the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Add in the pineapple and cook for 5 minutes or until the pineapple is covered in the sweet mixture.
- Spray 6 mini pineapple upside cake molds (or 8 large cupcake cups) with cooking spray. Place 2 tablespoons of the pineapple mixture into each mold and then top with the cake mixture filling the mold ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cakes are brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing them from the mold.
- In a saucepan over medium heat combine the butter, sugars, corn syrup, and cinnamon. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the rum to the boiling mixture and light on fire to burn off the alcohol.
- Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, mixing well.
- To serve the pineapple cake place the cake in the middle of a dessert plate. Pour a few teaspoons of the rum sauce over top of the cake. Serve with a scoop of ice cream.
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