If you missed it, part one is How to Season and part two is How to Use!
One of the reasons I love my cast iron pans is that they go right from stove top to oven! While I don’t do this all the time, it’s very convenient when I have to. And even for the recipes that don’t actually use the stove top first, the heavy pans provide a wonderfully even baking surface.
One of my favorite recipes I’ve tried recently in the cast iron pan has been a pineapple upside down cake.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
For the ‘top’:
- 4-5 pineapple rounds, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup sucanat
- optional – cherries and pecans to place between the pineapple rings
For the cake:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used spelt)
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sucanat sugar or other sweetener (rapadura, maple syrup, etc)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt the 4 Tbsp butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Once melted add in the sucanat and stir until combined. Cook a couple minutes until the mixture is nice and bubbly. (helps make it nice and kinda crispy on top) 
Place pineapple slices in pan. 
Continue to cook another couple minutes, turn the slices over, and turn off heat. (if using, place pecan slices into pan now as well)
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Next, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter, and the 1/2 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and then stir in vanilla. Alternating between the flour mixture and the buttermilk, add them into the creamed mixture, stirring just until combined.
Pour over the pineapple slices.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake from the sides and quickly tip over onto a flat plate or cutting board. Place cherries on top if using.
To make it a bit healthier (though it’s still a dessert!): Try using all whole wheat flour and/or soaking the whole wheat flour in yogurt overnight and then omit the buttermilk.
- For the ‘top’:
- 4-5 pineapple rounds, about ¼ to ½ inch thick
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ¾ cup sucanat
- optional – cherries and pecans to place between the pineapple rings
- For the cake:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (I used spelt)
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil
- ½ cup sucanat sugar or other sweetener (rapadura, maple syrup, etc)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Melt the 4 Tbsp butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Once melted add in the sucanat and stir until combined. Cook a couple minutes until the mixture is nice and bubbly. (helps make it nice and kinda crispy on top)
- Place pineapple slices in pan.
- Continue to cook another couple minutes, turn the slices over, and turn off heat. (if using, place pecan slices into pan now as well)
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Next, cream together the ½ cup of butter, and the ½ cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time and then stir in vanilla. Alternating between the flour mixture and the buttermilk, add them into the creamed mixture, stirring just until combined.
- Pour over the pineapple slices.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake from the sides and quickly tip over onto a flat plate or cutting board. Place cherries on top if using.
Other cast iron recipes:
Quince Cake from The Nourished Kitchen (she said it works great with pears too!)
Cornbread – though I use 1/2 white rice flour and 1/2 brown rice flour, not the soy flour!
And there is a slew of recipes here at What’s Cooking America
This post is linked to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays and Ultimate Recipe Swap
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About Donielle
looks delicious!!! I am going to have to try this one!!
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YUM! I was really hoping to get a cast iron pan for Christmas, but no such luck. I make a mean Maple Pear upside-down cake around Christmas every year, but have always done it in a regular skillet. It is SO good. I will have to try this one soon!
Jessie
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donielle Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
@Vanderbilt Wife, Ooo, that sure sounds yummy! I love fruit with my cake.
I wish my husband was a bigger fan of it! Though maybe it’s a good thing he’s not, cause then I don’t make it often.
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I love my cast iron skillet. I have never made a dessert in it, though. Usually cornbread or meat. I am going to have to try this soon. Thanks for linking to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday!
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donielle Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
@Amy @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Unfortunately I’ve used mine more for dessert than anything else! Though we LOVE cornbread in it!
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That pineapple upside down cake looks SO YUMMY! I’m gonna have to make it for sure!!
I LOVE my cast iron pan too. I need to reseason it (my dad, when he lived with us, messed it up), but I’m trying to hold off until spring so I can have windows open and NOT freeze my tail off LOL
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I just grabbed my apron and my cast iron skillet! I have a fridge full of pineapple and a lot of energy right now so Im going to get cooking! I’ve never used my cast iron for anything like this so it should be interesting. I also don’t have buttermilk, just my husband’s regular milk so I made my own using a tblsp of vinegar. Hope this works! Oh, and instead of using Sucanat (I’m just not convinced it’s that different from regular sugar….?) I’m using honey….
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Mmmm…that looks so good!! I do have a question, though. What’s the difference between sucanat and rapadura? Obviously the sucanat is fine, because you’re using it. But if you could give me some info on this topic, I’d greatly appreciate it.
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