Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple slices in juice, undrained
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (divided use)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 medium ripe banana (peeled, chopped)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Make the pineapple glaze: Drain pineapple juice from the canned pineapple slices (about 1 cup) into a medium heavy-duty pot. (Reserve pineapple slices.) Add brown sugar and ¼ cup sugar into the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Let boil until bubbly and reduced by about one-fourth, around 8 to 10 minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on it while boiling in case it reduces quickly.) Remove from heat; the amount of liquid should be around ¾ cup.
3. Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Pour the pineapple glaze into the dish. Arrange as many pineapple rings as will fit over the glaze—about 7. Reserve the remaining pineapple rings.
4. Meanwhile, into a small bowl, add all the dry ingredients: ½ cup sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
5. Into a large bowl, add the chopped banana. Use a fork to mash the banana. Add oil, water, eggs, buttermilk, and extract into the bowl with the banana, stirring together to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients until mixed together. Chop remaining pineapple rings and stir into the batter.
6. Pour batter over the pineapple rings. Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
7. Remove cake from the oven and let cool 10 minutes. Run a butter knife along the edges of the cake pan to make sure the cake won’t stick. Place a plate on top of the pan and use pot holders to flip cake over to invert. Serve warm or at room temperature.