Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake

I have fond memories of my Grandmother's pineapple banana upside down cake. It's a genius combination of banana bread and buttery, caramely, ooey, gooey, upside down goodness. I remember that she would make it around Christmas time as a holiday gift for the staff in the doctor's offices that she frequented with my Grandfather. She would send a few pieces home with my father for my family as well. It was the moistest, gooiest banana bread I've ever had. Yes. I remember this cake in so much detail. Strangely, I'm the only one...

A few years ago, while I was still living in Chile, I asked my Dad to get the recipe from Grandma for me. I was living with a banana bread lover at the time and was getting sick of it myself. I thought that adding some banana pineapple upside down action might jazz it up a bit, giving me a slightly different way to put those over ripe bananas that we always seemed to have lying around to use. Also, it seemed like something Chileans would love. Dad didn't remember the cake but asked Grandma anyway. Grandma didn't remember the cake either. I asked Mom. She also had no recollection of this culinary masterpiece. Could I have possibly made it up? But I remember it in so much detail....

Mom had Dad e-mail me a plain old pineapple upside down cake recipe that she found in a children's book. It was a nice gesture, but it simply was not what I was looking for.

My quest for this (imagined?) taste of childhood was put on hold as I created other banana confectionery delights, such as banana chocolate chip oat bread and chocolate banana death pie, which certainly deserves the honor of its own blog post. Someday...

For our open house after the boy's graduation party over the summer, I decided to give the cake a shot. I settled on this recipe, as it received rave reviews all over the Internet. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, but I thought it was too sweet. And, it's a low fat recipe. Even though it didn't taste that way, I can't help but to distrust any low fat cake... I was not impressed.

Then, of course, I promptly forgot about my quest for this cake again, as my summer cooking exploits turned mainly to pizza bake offs with the boy, and anything that could use up the excessive amount of zucchini that was bestowed upon us by friends, neighbors, and our own silly purchases at excessively cheap farm stands.

For some reason, the cake crept back into my mind last week as I pondered what would become of the sad bunch of bananas in my fruit basket. I decided that this time, I would go with my gut. I'd find a banana cake recipe, omit some of the sugar, and add it back in the form of a buttery, pineappley, upside downy caramel coating.

I can't believe that I waited so long to make this cake a part of my life again, and I can't wait to make it for Grandma next time I'm home...

Grandma's (I swear!!) Pineapple Banana Upside Down Cake

Heavily adapted from this recipe

1 can pineapple rings (7 of the 9 rings)

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

7 slices of banana

6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg (room temperature)

1/3 cup milk + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup mashed ripe banana

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the 2 tablespoons butter in a 9 inch round cake pan and place in the preheating oven until the butter is melted. Remove from the oven and use a pastry brush to spread the butter over the entire interior of the pan, making sure to completely coat the sides. Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the bottom of the pan and arrange 7 pineapple rings in the bottom of the pan. Push the 7 banana slices into the holes in the pineapple rings. Place the pan back into the oven while preparing the cake so that the ingredients can begin to caramelize.

Use an electric hand mixer to blend the remaining butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and egg together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk (or sift) the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.

Add the milk/vinegar and flour mixtures to the butter a little at a time, alternating between the two, and mix until well combined. Fold the mashed bananas into the batter.

Remove the pan from the oven. Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and return to the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes after removed from the oven. To remove cake from pan, place a plate/serving platter on top of the pan. Using oven mitts to hold the plate and pan together, flip the two over in one quick motion so that the pan ends up upside down over the plate. Carefully remove the pan. Share with people that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Besitos,

Allie