Pineapple Upside Down Cake

There's something about American comfort food that I just can't put my finger on...maybe it's the gooeyness, the sweetness, the carbs, or the fact that everything's made with cheese or sugar.  Today, in one of my baking fits (yes, those moments of pure potential that hit right at about...7:00 in the morning), I got it into my head that I was going to make a cake for my friends Kris and Ellen Mecholosky's third wedding anniversary.  And I did.  The resulting cake was soft and flavorful on the inside with hints of almond and citrus, and the crust was gooey and crunchy where the caramelized brown sugar had browned in the oven.

This recipe is not your normal cake recipe.  The batter is thick and dense, not runny and stringy, and the flavor is unbelievably strong even in the uncooked batter stage.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
As always, I need to thank Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes for posting this fabulous recipe.  I've adjusted the recipe somewhat here (the use of whole wheat flour over regular and cake) and the use of ground almonds and almond extract.  The result is a heartier cake with more notes of almonds.  For less of an earthy/nutty flavor, use vanilla extract over almond, and cake flour over ground almonds.

Pineapple Brown Sugar Topping
* 1 cup brown sugar, packed
* 1 20 oz can of pineapple slices, drained
* 1 stick butter (1/2 cup butter), melted

Cake
* 1 1/2 cups + 6 tablespoons whole wheat flour
* 6 tablespoons ground almonds
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature (I used salted, and it worked fine!)
* 4 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon almond extract
* 3/4 cup sour cream, lowfat or regular works fine

1.) Preheat oven at 325F.  Begin by making the caramel/pineapple mixture: melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan and whisk in 1 cup packed brown sugar.  Stir to integrate and combine.  Pour into a non-stick cake pan and top with pineapple ring slices (almost an entire can should fit a 10 in (diameter) pan, and you may have 1-2 slices left over).
2.) Mix the dry ingredients: place flour, salt, baking powder, almond flour in a bowl and mix to integrate.  Set aside.
3.) Mix butter and sugar on low speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating/mixing after every addition.  Beat in almond extract.
4.) Add dry ingredients and sour cream one at a time.  First, add half of the dry ingredients, mix to integrate and add half of the sour cream.  Mix to integrate.  Repeat until all ingredients are combined.
5.) Pour over pineapple caramel mixture and spread to evenly dispurse.  This cake batter will be thicker and stiffer than most, so don't worry if it seems different from the regular thin, stringy cake batters of non-dense cakes.  You want the batter to look dense!
6.) Place in the center of your oven and cook for 1 hour and fifteen minutes.  Make sure to check the cake at 45 minutes; depending on oven types, atmospheres, and temperatures, it may take longer or shorter.  Enjoy!


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