Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

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             FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to Carol Kovacs for sharing this classic food funny with us:

The wise old Mother Superior was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed
trying to make her comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink,
but she refused it. Then one nun took the glass back to the kitchen.
Remembering a bottle of whiskey they had received as a gift the previous
Christmas, she opened and poured a generous amount into the warm milk.

When she walked back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her
lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more. Before they knew it,
she had drunk the whole glass down to the last drop. "Mother," the nuns
asked with earnest, "please give us some wisdom before you die."

She raised herself up in bed with a pious look on her face and said,
"Don't sell that cow."

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             TODAY'S RECIPE
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This is a classic upside-down cake, and as such you will need a 10-inch
(25 cm) cast iron frying pan if you want to make it. You can use fresh
plums, mangoes, and peaches instead of pineapple, so change this recipe
with the seasons as different fruits become available. And here's a tip:
you can make a pretty good version of this cake and serve yourself some
effort by using a boxed yellow cake mix - but you didn't hear it here.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

For the topping:
4 Tbs (60 ml) butter
3/4 cup (180 ml) brown sugar
4-5 slices canned pineapple
3-4 maraschino cherries, halved (optional)
6-8 pecans or walnuts (optional)

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp (7 ml) baking powder
3 Tbs (45 ml) cornmeal
1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt
8 Tbs (120 ml) butter
1 cup (250 ml) sugar
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
2/3 cup (160 ml) milk

Heat the butter and brown sugar in a 10-inch (25 cm) cast iron skillet
over moderate heat. Cook until foamy and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove
from the heat and arrange the pineapple and optional cherries and nuts
attractively in the skillet. Set aside. Mix together the flour, baking
powder, cornmeal, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside. Cream the
butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 2
minutes. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add
the dry ingredients and milk gradually in 3 or 4 steps and beat just
until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until
soft peaks form. Fold about 1/4 of the whites into the batter, and then
fold in the remaining whites until thoroughly incorporated. Gently pour
the batter into the skillet, spreading it carefully to cover the peaches
without disturbing them. Bake in a preheated 350F (180C) oven until the
top is golden brown and puffy and a toothpick inserted in the center of
the cake (not the topping) comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool the
skillet on a wire rack for 2 minutes. Cut around the edge of the skillet
with a paring knife to free the cake. Place a serving platter over the
skillet and invert them both. Carefully remove the skillet. If any of
the peaches stick to the skillet, replace them on top of the cake. Serve
warm, chilled, or at room temperature.
Serves 6 to 8.
Received on Mon Jul 6 19:43:27 2009