Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

We celebrated one of our friend's birthdays last weekend, and I was in charge of baking a cake. Since our friend likes pineapples and is a fan of pineapple upside down cake, I was requested to bake one. Pineapple upside-down cake is such a classic, and a favorite classic at that. Here's how I make it.

This recipe works well for me. I used Betty Crocker's classic recipe as a starting point. I then increased the volume of the batter to make a 9x13 inch cake, decided to use oil to keep the cake moist, and added buttermilk to make the yellow cake more fluffy and soft.

Ingredients (serves 12):

1. 1/2 stick unsalted butter
2. 1 cup brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar for a deeper flavor)
3. 12 round pineapple slices
4. 12 marachino cherries, stems drained
5. 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
6. 1.5 cups sugar (I added 2 cups, but felt the cake was a tad too sweet, so I recommend cutting down the sugar, but people who have a sweet tooth thought the cake was good with 2 cups of sugar)
7. 1 cup vegetable oil
8. 1/2 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
10. 2 teaspoons baking power
11. 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
12. 3 eggs, at room temperature
13. 1.5 cups buttermilk, room temperature

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter a 9 by 13 inches cake pan (a metal pan). If using a glass pan, reduce the temperature to 325 F.
2. Mix dry ingredients together - flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. 
3. Add eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat/whisk until pale-yellow colored. Add oil and vanilla extract and beat to incorporate. 
4. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk in 3-4 batches (very important step for a light fluffy cake) and mix with a spatula or a mixer on low-speed until just mixed. (Just to make this very clear, add 1/4 of the flour mixture, mix. Add 1/3 rd of the buttermilk, mix. Repeat the process until buttermilk is over. Then add the remaining flour mixture and  mix).
5. Meanwhile, melt the butter in the cake pan (takes about 7-10 minutes). Remove from the oven and evenly sprinkle brown sugar on top of the melted butter (else heat butter and brown sugar on the stove top until sugar melts, and pour this onto the baking pan). Arrange the pineapple slices on top of the sugar, and place marachino cherries in the center. Finally, pour the batter on top and even it out with a spatula
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. 

Rest/cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Gently loosen the sides and carefully flip onto a serving tray.

Serve with some whipped cream!