*Please note I normally write this blog after finishing the bake, so everything’s in the past tense. This week due to organisation and extended cooking time I am writing before, during and after the bake, so please excuse the different tenses!*
Today is a perfect baking day, as it is pouring down with rain outside. Come to think of it though, living in Wales means that there are lots of perfect baking days. As noted at the end of last week’s blog, this week I am making the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, as I have a pineapple that I picked up for a heavily discounted price. The recipe asks for pineapple juice and pineapple slices, but I hope my fresher way will work. I’m hoping that when I cut the pineapple some juice will emerge… Stay tuned to see whether I rue not just throwing it in a blender with a banana to make a smoothie (although, come to think of it, my blender is broken).
The Bake
As you know, I have been caught out a couple of times in the past by not reading the recipe in its entirety before embarking on it. So this time I read it all the way through. However I needn’t, as it’s only 5 steps! As noted above, my variations on Hummingbird’s recipe involve using an actual, fresh (ish) pineapple rather than slices and juice from a tin. First things first, preparing the pineapple slices. I armed myself with a sharp knife and started prepping. I cut off both ends, and the sides. Half of the pineapple was bruised but I only needed 6 slices, so I cut the bruised part, put it to one side, and cut 6 slices with the ‘good’ bit. I cut out the middles, and with the bruised half, I made the pineapple juice. I did this by basically squeezing it in my hand, over a jug. And, you know what, it worked pretty well! I had pretty much the 90ml the recipe asks for.
You then make the batter for the cake, which is essentially a standard sponge mix, but with no vanilla extract. After creaming the butter and sugar, adding the eggs, then the dry ingredients, you add the pineapple juice. When I first poured it into the mixing bowl it looked like it had curdled, but once I mixed it, it resembled cake batter again. I tasted the beaters after I’d finished mixing (as is my right as the baker!) and the batter tasted like a standard sponge, but the pineapple juice gave it an extra bit of sweetness. Before pouring the batter into the cake tin, you arrange the pineapple slices in a tin that has been greased, dusted with flour and coated with caster sugar. When putting the slices in I realised 7 slices of pineapple would’ve been better, but 6 looks fine. The batter is then poured in, and put into the oven for 35-45 minutes.
The cake is now in the oven, and will need to cook and cool
a bit before I turn it out onto a plate, and hope that it looks and tastes as
it should! While I’m waiting though,
thought I’d share with you that I’ve made this cake and written about it whilst listening to a ‘Back
to the Nineties’ playlist on Spotify via Emerald Street, and it’s great. It’s mostly female artists, and listening to
it while baking has made me realise that this is what being a 21st
century feminist is all about – it’s perfectly acceptable for me to do
traditional domestic activities, on my day off from my job, whilst listening to
kick-ass females sing about life, love, and ruling the world. Girl power.
But I digress…
An hour or so later, and I have now taken the cake out of
the oven, and let it cool. While it’s
been cooling though, it’s slowly been sinking, and once I turned it out onto a plate, it looked really concave. And when I cut into it to take a slice, some
juice/batter hybrid was oozing out the middle.
I’ve never made a fruit upside-down cake before, so I’m not sure if that’s
what’s meant to happen, or if it just hasn’t cooked properly in the middle, so
I’ve put it back in the oven for a bit, just on the plate. I’m not worried about eating raw cake, but I
don’t want to give anyone else food poisoning!
And, true to that, I have eaten the slice I cut. It tastes nice – moist, fruity, and cooked,
however I think it might be a tad underdone.
So my tip is to cook it for longer than it says, maybe 50-55
minutes. I am a little disappointed,
however I don’t normally cook with fruit, chocolate’s more my bag, so it’s been
a learning experience. Which is what
this journey’s all about!
I'm not sure what I'll be making next week, but as it's my mother's birthday I think I'll try and make a celebration cake of sorts! Happy Baking!
No comments:
Post a Comment