Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My brother in law was in town this week and he has a major sweet tooth. I always enjoy cooking/baking for people who really enjoy it and he is one of those people. I had asked Marc to ask my brother in law what his favorite cakes are and one of the cakes that he picked was a pineapple upside down cake. On Wednesday, I whipped one up for him and it turned out wonderful! I had never made a pineapple upside down cake before but knew I did NOT want to make one from a box. I picked a recipe from Gale Gand, who is pretty much one of my top inspirations. She is an incredible pastry chef and she used to have a show on Food Network that I watched all the time.

First, I browned a cup of sugar by itself in a heavy bottomed pot until it was a nice amber color. Then I carefully stirred in 3 Tb butter and poured the mixture into the bottom of a pan sprayed with pan spray. Over the hot mixture in the pan, I sprinkled a cup of packed brown sugar. Over that I layered the thinly sliced pineapple. The rest of the ingredients, including cherries, got mixed all together to form the batter and was spread over the pineapples. Once baked, the cake was immediately inverted and the remaining sugar in the bottom of the pan, and the sugar that dripped off the edges of the cake were transferred to a heavy pot and simmered with cream until it formed a nice, thick caramel sauce to drizzle over the individual pieces of cake.

My brother in law loved it. He ate two pieces before leaving that day and took half of the cake home with him. I would have sent the whole thing, but he didn't have room on the plane. My neighbors enjoyed the rest of the cake.