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Birthday Food

As I said yesterday, we've had a birthday in the house—Husband has turned over another calendar year. He didn't care to have a big shindig last night and didn't even seem to want to have dinner out, so we stayed in. I made a yummy mussels and pasta dish with andouille sausage, sauteed onions and mushrooms simmered in a rich tomato sauce. Nice.


And I made a pineapple upside-down cake. Husband isn't big on desserts as a rule, but he has always loved this kind of cake. Actually, he hasn't had this cake for a long time because it's gone out of fashion. Really, when was the last time you saw pineapple upside-down cake on a restaurant menu? I couldn't even find a boxed mix for the stuff. So, I made one from scratch using a recipe from momswhothink.com. I wish someone would explain this site name to me, which seems to suggest there are a lot of moms out there who don't think and who aren't interested in recipes, health, nutrition and parenting issues. Stupid moms, not bothering to think.

Whatever the reason for their site name, the recipe surprised me by working. I don't think I have ever baked a cake in a skillet before, but this one is a good one, great texture inside and out. It goes like this:

Ingredients:
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1 can sliced pineapple, undrained maraschino cherries*
3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Using a 10 inch round skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from heat and mix in the brown sugar.
2. Combine 8 slices of pineapple with the butter and brown sugar mixture. Place a maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice.
3. In a large bowl, separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks until lightly fluffy.
4. Add 1/2 cup pineapple juice, white sugar and vanilla. Mix until sugar is dissolved.
5. Sift baking powder, flour, and salt. Combine well. Beat egg whites until stiff then fold into the egg yolk mixture.
6. Add this mixture to the butter, pineapple, and sugar mixture.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then turn upside down onto a plate.

*I skipped the cherries and used crushed pineapple instead of sliced.

Comments

lin said…
I used to have a large round electric skillet that made a perfect pineapple upside down cake-- haven't made on in years! YEARS! @lindajones
6:33 AM
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