Cast-Iron Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe

Serves 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Most of our daily eating traditions in the South were simple, basic ingredients or what meat or vegetable was in season. Baking gave women like my mama an opportunity to be creative. Making cakes is as Southern as it gets. Anytime there was a treat involved, they put in extra love. Cast-iron pineapple upside-down cake was a holiday dish at the Mitchell house and then it became a highly requested item on the menu at Mitchell’s BBQ restaurant in Wilson.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 (20-ounce) can sliced pineapple
• 1 8-ounce jar maraschino cherries
• 1 15-ounce box “moist” yellow cake mix
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

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Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Pour the melted butter into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or 9-inch round nonstick cake pan and tilt the pan to cover the bottom and sides generously. Sprinkle a layer of brown sugar on top of the butter layer. Drain the canned pineapple, reserving the juice; set the juice aside. Pat the pineapple slices with a dry paper towel. Arrange the pineapple slices in one layer on top of the brown sugar until the pineapple slices cover the pan. Add halved pineapple slices around the edges of the pan. With a small spoon or melon baller, add the maraschino cherries to the centers of the pineapple slices. Set aside.

Use a flour sifter to sift the cake mix, then add the eggs and oil and use an electric mixer to combine the ingredients. The cake batter will be light, fluffy and super moist. Add 1/3 cup of the reserved pineapple juice to the batter and stir to combine. Add the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, then let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Place the cake on a cake dish or flat plate. Flip the cake upside down over the cake pan, then invert the dish and pan together so the cake falls out of the pan onto the cake dish. Cool for 20 minutes more before serving.

Ecco

Cook With Ed

Two more recipes from Ed Mitchell's Barbeque for AARP members to try:

Ed’s Mouthwatering Baby Back Ribs

These are the baby back ribs I used to defeat Bobby Flay on the Food Network television show Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  

“I Don’t Eat Everybody’s Potato Salad!”

This potato salad is legendary. We served it at our restaurant, pig pickin’s, church and every family function.

Read about Ed Mitchell’s cookbook, Ed Mitchell’s Barbeque.