Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

This is the old-fashioned cake recipe made from scratch for Pineapple Upside-Down cake. If your want the homemade taste of cake, like mom and grandma made this is it.

My easier quicker version is on the bottom of the page.

I think the trick to this recipe is the vessel that is used for cooking this in. For me, this cake has to be cooked in a Cast Iron Frying pan. This will give it the right texture crust and a pretty, appealing color.

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch
No. 303 crushed pineapple (sic original recipe) I like to use sliced pineapple
2 tbsp melted butter
½ cup maraschino cherries
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
2 ¼ tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten
½ tsp vanilla
½ cp milk

Mix 1/3 cup of sugar with the corn starch, add juice drained from the pineapple and cook in a heavy 10-in skillet over direct heat stirring constantly until sauce boils and becomes clear. Add pineapple and butter. Drain cherries and arrange in a pattern on the pineapple mixture. Sift flour, measure and resift 3 times with salt and baking powder. Cream the 1/3 cup shortening until soft, add the remaining 2/3 cups sugar and the eggs, and beat vigorously until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour and beating well after each addition. Turn batter into skillet over pineapple. Bake in a moderate oven at 350 F, for 35 to 40 minutes or until center of cake is springy when lightly pressed with finger tip. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate.

My Easy Version:

Use either Pineapple, Yellow or White boxed cake mix.

Can of sliced pineapple (drained)
Maraschino Cherries (drained)
Brown sugar
2-3 tbsp butter

Mix cake mix of choice and set aside.

Melt butter in cast iron frying pan. Add brown sugar and just a little of the pineapple syrup and stir until well blended and evenly distributed in pan (not as thick as a paste and not as thin as gravy). Arrange pineapple slices with cherries placed in the center of each pineapple slice. Pour batter over this. Bake 350F 30-40 minutes until center of cake is springy when pressed. Cool 10 minutes then turn out onto a pretty plate.