Double Layer Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Pineapple Buttercream Frosting

It is Spring and Mother’s Day and nothing says “thanks Mom for being so sweet” than a rich cake.  I poked around the Google machine and found a recipe on Food Network.com that I altered just a bit (the frosting recipe is my own and I replaced vanilla with almond extract in the cake.)

This is a dense, sweet pound cake style, pineapple upside down cake – not a sponge cake. It is easier to manipulate and stack, but if you prefer a sponge cake, it would use a less dense flour, fewer eggs and perhaps regular milk vs buttermilk.  I suppose you could find a sponge cake recipe online to replace the cake recipe below and it would still work.

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

3 cups cake flour, plus more for pan

1 cup butter, softened, plus 1/2 cup, melted (1 & ½ cups total butter)

2 1/4 cups sugar

5 large eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups whole buttermilk

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple slices in juice, drained well

1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained well

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting, recipe follows

Chopped pecans, for garnish, optional

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

6 tablespoons of crushed pineapple

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon pineapple juice

1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour.

Place pineapple rings and cherries (stems off) on paper towel to remove juice. (reserve some of the pineapple juice for icing recipe.)

In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the almond extract and set aside.

In a small bowl, add the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

Divide the brown sugar evenly into the bottom of each sprayed pan.

Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar.

Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar.

Reserve remaining pineapple slices to crush for icing

Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit into each pan

Bake at 350 degrees with a cookie sheet or foil beneath the cake pans to capture any boil over, if any

Bake about 45 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and top is golden brown

Let the cakes cool in the pans for 20 minutes.

Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool –  place cookie sheet beneath the wire rack to capture sugary syrup that may drain off

After cooling for 20 minutes assemble the cake, carefully arrange 1 cake layer, pineapple side up, on a cake plate. Carefully stack the remaining cake layer, pineapple side up, over the first layer.

Put the cake into the refrigerator about 20 to ensure it is completely cool prior to frosting.

Pineapple Buttercream Frosting

Cream butter

Slowly add powered sugar

Add Almond extract

Add 6 tablespoons of crushed pineapple, strained from juice

If icing seems too stiff add 1 tablespoon (or more as needed) of pineapple juice to the icing

If icing seems too loose to adhere to the cake sides, add more powered sugar

Frost the sides of the cake (not the top) with Pineapple Buttercream Frosting – be sure the cake is completely cooled!

Press chopped pecans into sides of cake. It helps to slightly tilt the cake (careful!!!) to scatter the pecans on and then press in.

Recipe based on Paula Deen & Food Network recipe