Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 Christmas Eve is the feast of all feasts in my Italian family and, we were sad to miss it this year. Instead, we opted for a quiet dinner at home, baked whole Bronzini, with rice and vegetables, followed by Pineapple Upside Down Cake for dessert. In short, the enter meal was perfection, and the cake was so good, so ridiculously good, that it just may become my signature dessert!

I picked this recipe from Epicurious because it was one of the only ones I found that called for fresh, rather than canned pineapples, and it was all done in a cast iron skillet, and anything done in a cast iron skillet turns out good. (see the Carnitas post).

Here's the recipe:

Topping:
* 1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
* 3/4 stick unsalted butter
* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

Batter:
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 to 3 teaspoons ground cardamom
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 tablespoon dark rum
* 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
* 2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make topping:
Cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly.

Make batter:
Sift together flour, cardamom, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)

Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cake stand in skillet 5 minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.

Serve cake just warm or at room temperature.