Gluten Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake
October 6th, 2009 -- Posted in gluten free, gluten substitutes | No Comments »
You can still enjoy delicious pineapple upside down cake that is gluten free!
I am thrilled to be able to share a tasty pineapple upside down cake with you today! I last attempted a pineapple upside down cake a couple years ago and the results were so disappointing I haven’t had the heart to try again…until yesterday! Rather than use a special recipe from a gluten-free cookbook (which is what I did the first time), I found a vanilla cake recipe that looked promising and combined that with my “old faithful” Betty Crocker red cover cookbook recipe.
The vanilla cake recipe comes from the magazine “Living Without” April/May 2009 edition on page 29. It makes about twice as much cake as you need for a 9 x 13 pineapple upside down cake. So I suggest either halving the recipe, make TWO pineapple upside down cakes (they freeze well) or do one pineapple upside down cake and turn the rest of the batter into cupcakes or a plain cake (very nice for strawberry shortcake).
Put four eggs in a bowl of warm to hot water to bring to room temperature and soften the butter.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. While heating, put 9 x 13 cake pan in oven with 2/3 stick of butter. In the meanwhile, drain two cans of pineapple and, optional, open maraschino cherries. When butter has melted, remove pan from oven, sprinkle with one cup of packed brown sugar, and place pineapple rings across bottom of the pan. Place 1/2 maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple ring, if desired. Chopped nuts may also be added if desired.
Cream together:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter or non-dairy alternative
- 2 cups granulated sugar (I used the more coarse turbinado sugar)
- Then add (one at a time) 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- And add 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
In a separate bowl combine or sift together (I did not sift as suggested but if you are extra-particular, go ahead and sift):
- 3 and 1/2 cups flour blend (1/2 rice flour, 1/4 tapioca starch/flour, and 1/4 cornstarch or potato starch)
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
Heat 1 and 1/2 cups milk (type of your choice) to hot, not boiling.
Add 1/2 dry mixture to the creamed mixture and combine well.
Add 1/2 hot milk into batter and mix.
Add remaining dry mixture and hot milk and beat until smooth.
Pour about half the batter over the prepared pan with the pineapple rings and bake in the oven until knife come out clean (30-45 minutes). Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes then turn upside down on a cookie sheet or other large tray. Serve plain or with whipped cream. Delicious!
Use other batter as you had planned to and enjoy your results!
This gluten free pineapple upside down cake freezes well. I like to prepare it into individually wrapped servings and place those servings in a freezer bag to stay fresh longer.
