Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake

• servings: 1 cake
• active time: 25 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

8 ounces (225g) fresh pineapple, about 1/4 pineapple

12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, softened (1 ½ sticks), divided

1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons lime zest or lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, separated

1 ½ cups (195g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup (125g) sour cream or plain yogurt

Directions

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C).

Remove the ends and peel from the pineapple. Cut into four long wedges, and then cut away the core. Slice two of the wedges into 1/2-inch thick slices. You will need most of these for the cake. (Watch our video to see how we cut the pineapple.)

Spread four tablespoons of the butter over the bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2 inches tall. (We do not recommend using a springform pan for this recipe as the brown sugar topping tends to leak out of the bottom.)

Scatter the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the butter.

Arrange the pineapple wedges in one even layer over the butter and sugar.

In a large bowl, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk or sift the flour with the baking powder and salt.

On low speed, mix half of the flour mixture into the butter and egg yolk mixture until only a few streaks of flour remain, then mix in the remaining flour.

Add the (unbeaten) egg whites and sour cream. Mix on low speed until blended.

Spoon the cake batter onto the pineapple in the pan and spread into an even layer.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert it onto a plate to cool. If some pineapple slices stick to the pan, use a spatula to transfer them back on top of the cake and spread some gooey brown sugar sauce over them to cover it up. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 slice
• Calories: 429
• Total Fat: 22 g
• Saturated Fat: 13 g
• Cholesterol: 100 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 56 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 37 g
• Protein: 5 g