When I tried to include a music recommendation in a previous post, I was unceremoniously shot down by my sidekick/life coach, Dani. She commanded that I remove the line about how Aston Martin Music by Rick Ross feat. Drake and Chrisette Michele is the best song ever of the moment, insisting my suggestion sounded stupid.
Well, like it or not, my most recent baking adventure warrants two songs. Here they are:
1. For those who share my sophisticated appreciation of rap, listen to Fireman by Lil Wayne
2. For those who might not be gangster enough for Weezy, but still like good music, Incinerate by Sonic Youth is an adequate accompaniment to Smoked Pineapple Upside-down Cake.
Get it?
It all began last spring when I made mind-blowing pineapple upside down cake (pictured above). Ever since then, Dani has been begging me to recreate it. On Monday, after a day of traipsing around the city climbing hills and trees, we decided that the time had come. We consulted a few recipes, and decided to do a bit of improvisation.
Smoked Pineapple Upside-down Cake
* 1 can pineapple slices
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 tbsp melted butter
* 1/2 cup butter, room temp
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 2 cups flour
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1 tbsp dark rum
Preheat oven to 350 ˚F.
Spread the brown sugar evenly on the bottom of a baking pan. Use any pan EXCEPT A SPRINGFORM PAN. DO NOT USE A SPRINGFORM PAN. Pour the 4 tbsp melted butter over the sugar. Arrange the pineapple over the sugar/butter.
Cream remaining butter and sugar. Mix very well. Add the eggs and mix again. Mix the flour, b.p and b.s. together (I used the liquid cup measure). Alternate adding the dry mixture and the buttermilk (which I made using milk and a splash of vinegar). Finally, add the vanilla and rum. Don't let Dani watch this part, for she is not a pirate.
Mix to combine, but do not overmix. Pour the batter over the pineapple and bake for... well that is where the fun began.
After about 10 minutes of baking, we began to notice powerfully delicious smells, even though we were far from the kitchen. We decided that this was a good thing. A few minutes later, though, this deliciousness was replaced by a burning scent. We hurried into the kitchen and opened to oven to a billow of smoke surrounding a raw cake. The sugar/butter lining the bottom of the pan had seeped out and dripped onto the oven floor, and was rapidly morphing into a solid black substance. After cursing my stupidity for a few minutes, I decided to shut the whole thing down and toss the cake-fetus in the garbage. Dani intervened, though, and persuaded me not to lose hope. I resolved to simply turn off the oven and leave the door closed, allowing the cake to continue slow-baking as long as the heat lasted. I did not feel too optimistic, but the alternatives simply would not do.
The next morning, I checked on the cake, which had spent the night in the oven. The middle was sunken and pretty wet, but the majority of the cake had persevered and even looked appetizing. Upon tasting later that day, a few conclusions were reached:
1. Pineapple upside down cake might be the best cake ever
2. The topping needed a little more butter for the amount of brown sugar we used, and the two should probably have been melted together before put in the pan. Some shortcuts just don't cut it.
3. Never ever use a springform pan when making a pineapple upside down cake, or any such cake, and if you insist on doing so anyway, put the pan on a baking sheet. (Then again, if you like your cake half raw and with a faint smoky aftertaste, by all means use the springform pan. I won't judge you).
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