Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - Revisited

 I attended a family reunion for my dad's side this weekend. My assignment was to make this lovely Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in Cast Iron Skillet. The recipe originally came from my Grandma through my aunt, and I have blogged about it before, but it came out SO much better this time around (as you can see). I like to think my photography skills are ever so slightly improved, and I edited the recipe to make it more clear.

I HIGHLY recommend using the Trader Joe's Vanilla Cake mix mentioned in the note. I'm not normally a Trader Joe's person, but this mix was amazing. It actually has flecks of vanilla bean (!!!) and no chemical junk in the ingredients. It made me wonder why Duncan Hines can't do something as simple and tasty with their mixes. But I digress! This cake is classic and fantastic- try it!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (in Cast Iron Skillet)

Trader Joe’s has a good vanilla cake mix that works as a substitute for the dry ingredients. Just mix  1/4 cup pineapple juice in with 3/4 cup milk in place of the 1 cup of milk it calls for.

Cake:
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
5 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
One can pineapple slices in juice
Buttermilk (or sour milk made with lemon juice and milk works fine) plus juice from drained pineapple to make 1 1/4 cup liquid
Maraschino cherries, halved (optional)
Chopped nuts (optional)

Topping:
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar

Cake:
Cream white sugar and butter together. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Alternate adding the buttermilk/pineapple juice mixture and the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture until mixed without lumps.

Topping:
Put ½ cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar in a cast iron skillet. Heat on stove top over medium heat until bubbling. Then reduce heat while bubbling softly and thickening slightly, about 3 minutes total. Don’t burn the sugar/butter mixture. Turn off and lay drained pineapple slices decoratively on top. (Add cherries or nuts if desired.) Pour batter over slices. Bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes until done. Let cake rest for 10 minutes and invert cake. Leave upside down for a minute or so. Lift pan.