Bamma's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

We were going to our friends Josh and Jeanne's house for dinner and it was my job to bring the dessert. I asked Josh what he wanted and he said he loves the Pineapple Upside Down Cake over at Duke's. The one at Duke's has a Hawaiian taste to it. I had never made Pineapple Upside Down Cake before. I asked my sweet southern friend over at Alli Bee Me if she had a recipe for one and of course she did. She gave me her Bamma's recipe, a cake she grew up eating. I knew it had to be good if it came from her Bamma, and it was AMAZING!

 

Bamma's Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Makes a 2-layer 9" round

Ingredients
*3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup salted butter, room temp and 1/2 cup, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs or 10 egg whites
1 1/4 cups buttermilk, room temp, shaken
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 (20 oz) cans pineapple slices, in juice, drained well
1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries, drained and rinsed well
1 bag sweetened shredded coconut, divided (I added this to Bamma's recipe)

Optional-instead of or addition to the coconut:
1 bag of chopped pecans, toasted lightly

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350*. Butter your round cake pans and then lightly sprinkle flour on them. 

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

 

Add the sugar and eggs. 

Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Divide the brown sugar evenly into each pan. 

Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar. 

Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar.

Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit, sprinkle with 2 Tbsp coconut over each cake.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes. Place the rounds on a cooling rack.

Pineapple Buttercream

Makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp table salt

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4-6 Tbsp crushed pineapple with juice

Preparation

Beat the butter for a few minutes using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.

Turn your mixer on the lowest speed and add 3 cups of the sifted powdered sugar, mixing until the sugar is fully combined with the butter.

 

Increase the mixer speed to medium and add vanilla, salt, and 4 Tbsp of pineapple and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining pineapple with juice, 1 Tbsp at a time. If you want more pineapple but like the consistency, drain the juice and add more.

To 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. Tuck parchment paper under the edges of the cake for easy clean-up.

Frost the sides of the cake with the buttercream. (I forgot to take a picture :)
Using your hands, carefully push the coconut into the buttercream.

 

Make some Caramel Sauce to drizzle over the cake. Yum.

Add some Macadamia Nut or Coconut ice cream too. 

I made a mini cake for my friend Alli. I used chopped pecans like her Bamma's original recipe called for.

 

 

Notes

-This cake tastes better each day. :)

Caramel Sauce

Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Preparation

Put the sugar and water in a 2-quart sauce pan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat to high. 

Let the mixture bubble and caramelize until it is amber, about 5 to 7 minutes. Watch carefully because this can burn fast.

  

Put oven mitt on stirring hand. Remove from the heat and whisk the cream in very slowly. It will splatter and steam. Stir in the butter. Cool to room temperature before serving. 

 

Pineapple Buttercream

Pineapple Buttercream

Makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp table salt

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4-6 Tbsp crushed pineapple with juice

Preparation

Beat the butter for a few minutes using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.

Turn your mixer on the lowest speed and add 3 cups of the sifted powdered sugar, mixing until the sugar is fully combined with the butter.

 

Increase the mixer speed to medium and add vanilla, salt, and 4 Tbsp of pineapple and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining powdered sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining pineapple with juice, 1 Tbsp at a time. If you want more pineapple but like the consistency, drain the juice and add more.

Gluten Free Chocolate Crescent Cookies

It was my Dad's birthday and I wanted to make him some treats. He has Celiac Disease, so whatever I make him needs to be gluten free. I saw these crescent cookies on a blog I follow. It looked like something he would like, and he did!

Gluten Free Chocolate Crescent Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients

2 cups gluten free bread mix (I use Pamela's), plus more for dusting
1 egg
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp salted butter, melted
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
4 Tbsp Raw Sugar

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350*. Put the GF bread mix, egg, cream cheese, and milk in the bowl of a food processor. Turn it on and mix until it forms a dough. 

 

Add the cold butter and pulse several times to combine. 

Divide the dough in half, dump onto a sheet of cellophane and wrap it up tight. Put the dough into the freezer for 20 minutes. 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. (I prefer the mat, but I have baked on it using gluten ingredients, so I used parchment this time)  Dust a flat surface with the GF bread mix. Drop one of the dough discs on the surface. Move the dough around the mix until it is coated and not sticky. You'll want the mix all over your hands and fingers.

Pat out the dough with your fingers and hands into an 8 inch circle. 

Get the melted butter and raw sugar ready. 

 

Using a pizza cutter, trim the edges. Save the dough you trim off, you can use it later.

 

Cut the dough into triangles. Repeat with the other dough disc.

Spread the dough with some melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Add some mini chocolate chips, making sure to leave room around the edges.

 
Starting from the wide end, roll each triangle into a crescent and place on the cookie sheets. Continue until all the cookies are formed. Brush the top of each cookie with some melted butter and sprinkle with more sugar.

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are browned and the dough is crisp. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

I made my Dad these cookies and The Amazing Soccatumi Cake with strawberries and Cool Whip. He made strawberry shortcake.

Strawberries sprinkled with sugar and refrigerated all day...yum!

Notes
-Recipe adapted from Simply...gluten-free.
-You can make these cookies flat too, kind of like a sugar cookie.