Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Doughnuts for a French Potluck

Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

On a recent nice summer evening my French conversation group met at our house for a Summer potluck.  This Summer has flown by, and we've hardly had a chance to host people on our patio. I tried to organize something with this group a couple of weeks ago, but had to cancel due to the weather. I rescheduled and had amazing luck with beautiful weather on the new day!

I considered making eclairs, because with 12 people coming it would have been an opportunity to make a large-batch dessert and they would have enjoyed it. But ultimately, I realized I wasn't going to have time. So looking at old recipes I hadn't made in a while, I decided to try Pineapple Upside Down Cake. It's very good, summery, and an old-fashioned recipe you don't see often.

I used Sally's Bake Blog recipe. I'd used it before, and when I checked her blog it had been updated.  I went with the new version, using cake flour and egg whites only to make a less-dense cake.  I have the 9.5 pie plate she recommends, but I wanted straighter sides on the cake so I went with the other option she gives of a 9" round cake pan.  I omitted the maraschino cherries, because I think they're gross with too much sugar and food coloring.  The cake baked in 45 minutes.

A little bit of the cake stuck to the pan, where I hadn't buttered it properly.  But I was able to "glue" it back together because the cake was still warm.  The "glue" held well!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

I presented the cake in my jadeite cake stand with cover, the very first one in my collection.  It looked pretty and everyone seemed pleasantly surprised to see a Pineapple Upside Down cake. They all said it was very good!

     Pineapple Upside Down Cake  
     on Jadeite cake stand.

In addition to the Pineapple Upside Down Cake I made two dozen doughnuts for my guests. I wanted there to be a little dessert array, and I was also a bit worried there wouldn't be enough servings if no one else brought dessert.

I managed the timing by making the Pineapple Upside Down Cake the day before the party, and the doughnuts the same day. I made two kinds: Chocolate Chip Doughnuts and Buttermilk Doughnuts.  I knew I wouldn't have time to make glazed doughnuts, unfortunately.

I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour for the chocolate chip doughnuts, and a Nordic Ware recipe for the buttermilk doughnuts. I didn't get a picture of the buttermilk, but here is a picture of the chocolate chip variety.  I thought the chocolate chip came out a bit dry and would have been better with a glaze, and R* commented they tasted like muffins.  Still, he liked the and preferred them over the buttermilk, which were my favorites.  But next time, I'll bake the chocolate chip doughnuts for less time. 

Baked Chocolate Chip Doughnuts.





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