Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside Down Cake)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter (room temp)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
8 slices fresh pineapple or canned sliced pineapples
1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cups buttermilk (room temp)**
1 tbsp dark rum

**I never have buttermilk on hand, so I put 1 tbsp lemon juice in a measuring cup and fill with whole milk up to a cup, mix a wee bit and let sit 15 minutes. This is a good buttermilk substitute and you can make it any size you want. In this recipe I used 3/4 tbsp lemon juice and filled up the measuring cup to 3/4 cup with whole milk.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. In a large pan, melt the 3 tbsp of butter on medium heat. Add 3/4 cup of the brown sugar, stir occasionally and let cook for about 5 minutes. Add the pineapple slices and let cook, undisturbed another 5 minutes. Place pineapple pieces into your 9 inch cake pan and pour the sugar mix on top, set aside. (I used a 10 inch spring form pan - it leaked a little so I put a cookie sheet under it in the oven)

3. While the pineapple mix is cooking, sift the flour, powder and salt together in a bowl.

4. In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 cup butter with the remaining 3/4 cups of brown sugar with a beater until fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the lightly beaten eggs and beat until well incorporated. Reduce the speed of the beaters and add the dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternating in thirds. When it's all well incorporated, beat in the rum.

5. Pour the batter on top of the pineapples and spread evenly. Bake for 40 minutes. Let sit on a rack for 10 minutes to cool then carefully invert the pan and place the cake on your platter. Tastes its best at room temperature!