Fun with Cast Iron

He Said:

I have been psyched to make this recipe for quite some time now. First of all, it's a Pineapple-Coconut Upside-Down Cake? How can that not sound good? Secondly, it is all made in a cast iron skillet. Fun, right? Right. So off I went to make this sucker. Here's how it looked when I started. Not too exciting (although...is that a bottle of coconut rum that I see off to the right?).



And here's how it looked after. Man, this is some GOOD cake! Give it a try. Go on, you know you want to. The recipe is below.



This recipe can be found in the wonderful book "Cast Iron Cooking" by Dwayne Ridgaway.

Pineapple-Coconut Skillet Upside-Down Cake

For Topping:
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 15 oz can sliced pineapple

For Batter:
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened
1 Cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon coconut-flavored rum (ah, there it is!)
1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cardamom
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 Cup toasted coconut flakes mixed with 1/4 Cup untoasted coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

[For topping]
Melt the butter in a well seasoned cast iron skillet (I used a 10 1/2" skillet) over medium high heat. Add the brown sugar and melt, stirring constantly, until bubbling, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat, add pineapple rings in one even layer and set aside.

[For batter]
Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and coconut rum. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cardamom, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Add the pineapple juice and beat on low to incorporate. Add remaining flour mixture, beating on low until just incorporated. Spoon the batter over the pineapple, smoothing the top evenly. Bake on the center rack of the oven until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.

[The tricky part]
To remove from the skillet, run a sharp knife around the edge to release the sides. Invert a plate over the skillet and invert the cake onto the plate, keeping pan and plate firmly pressed together, The cake should drop from the skillet onto the plate. Drizzle the cake with some additional coconut rum, top with coconut flakes and serve.