After being in California last week for a wedding and to see family and friends, I came back missing the warm (no hot!) and sunny climate. Our friend was having a birthday this weekend and to celebrate we decided to bring the hot sun to us with a Hawaiian luau-themed, birthday, dinner party.

My grandmother on my dad’s side used to make this classic American dessert in the 50s and 60s and I have always thought it looked so pretty and fun. I know maybe it’s not traditional Hawaiian cuisine; but, hey it has pineapples in it! I was in charge of all the food for the event so I made 3 kinds of kabobs, Asian-style meatballs, green salad, this beautiful cake, Rice Krispy treats (as requested by another party attendee), and figs stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in prosciutto. Therefore, I didn’t really have the time to make the recipe from scratch. This recipe was the perfect way to combine good-op’ American convenience and a little elbow grease.

The result was an absolutely stunning cake that was the center of attention at the party. I used two 8″ rounds to make a double-decker birthday cake but you can just as easily keep it simple with a 9″ x 13″ baking pan.  For the two rounds, just split the butter, sugar, pineapple, and cherries between the two pans. Simple as that! The cake was moist and you really could taste the pineapple juice flavor. The cherries on top were, well, just that! I hope you’ll step back into a little classic Americana with me and give this cake a try!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Recipe By: Betty Crocker
Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 1 hr 50 min
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 can (20 oz) pineapple slices in juice, juice reserved
• 1 jar (6 oz) maraschino cherries without stems, drained
• 1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ yellow or white cake mix
• Vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). In 13×9-inch pan, melt butter in oven (takes about 3 minutes). Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.

2. Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 cup. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3. Bake 38 to 46 minutes (40 to 48 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave baking pan over cake for 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.