The upside down cake is a round cake with six slices of pineapple, candied red cherries and a brown sugar glaze.

Upside down cakes are unique in that a decorative fruit topping is baked under the cake batter. These are self-decorating cakes ? just bake and serve. The recipe calls for melting the butter in a pan and sprinkling the sugar over it. One then has to carefully decorate the sliced fruit of one’s choice at the bottom of the pan. The cake batter is carefully poured over the fruit. While the cake is baking, the butter and sugar caramelises, giving a beautiful brown colour and delicious flavour. After the cake is baked, it is immediately inverted onto a serving plate. These cakes can be served warm or cool. I prefer mine with ice cream or whipped cream.

pineapple upside down

Ingredients: For the caramel ? 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar; 4 tbs butter. For the fruit ? 1 small, ripe pineapple, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. For the cake ? 2 cups flour; 21/2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt; 8 tbs butter, at room temperature; 3/4 cup sugar; 11/2 tsp finely-grated orange zest; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 2 large eggs; 2/3 cup plain yoghurt

Method: Heat the oven to 350?F and lightly butter the sides of an 8-inch cake tin. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Bring to boil and pour into the pan. Spread with spatula to coat bottom evenly. Arrange pineapple slices evenly in the caramel. Gently press fruit into caramel. For the cake, sift cake flour, baking powder and salt. In a bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and continue beating till fluffy and pale. Beat in orange zest and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Sprinkle half the flour mixture over the butter mixture and mix until just blended. Gently mix in remaining flour. Scoop large spoonfuls of batter onto the fruit; gently spread the batter evenly in pan. Bake until cake is golden-brown about 45 min. Immediately run a paring knife around the inside edge of the pan. Set a flat serving plate on top of the pan and invert cake. Let rest for 5 min to let the topping settle. Remove pan and serve warm or at room temperature.