Pineapple Inside-Out Cake - an Original Recipe for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day recipes traditionally feature chocolate, but some people don't like it, others can't eat it due to some medical condition or other, and still more are simply tired of it. This Valentine's Day perhaps you could do something different, such as the cake recipe that follows. I developed it using old fashioned pineapple upside down cake, added a fluffy, marshmallow type icing and made the filling more decorative as well as easier to eat. It is a little bit of effort to make, but it is delicious and beautiful; and isn't your beloved worth the extra effort?

Pineapple Inside Out Cake

Begin by making a yellow cake as follows:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable shortening OR 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one 8-inch round cake pan. Have another 8-inch round cake pan on hand.

To prepare yellow cake: In medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until smooth, scraping bowl frequently.

Pour half the batter in to prepared cake pan; reserve other half.

Now make the filling as follows:

Filling:

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
pineapple rings (all but one) from one small can, drained and cubed (reserve one ring)
1 cup chopped pecans (reserve one whole pecan)
1/2 half jar of maraschino cherries, halved (reserve liquid and other cherries)

Melt 1/4 cup butter or margarine in small saucepan, and stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar, stirring until bubbly and well-blended. Pour in to second, empty, cake pan, covering bottom. Sprinkle cubed pineapple, halved maraschino cherries and chopped pecans on brown sugar mixture. Pour remaining batter on top.

Bake both pans of cake for about 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted of middle of one without filling comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes. With small knife, loosen layers from sides of pans.

Invert cake with filling on to cake plate, with filling on top. Prepare Fluffy White Frosting as follows:

Fluffy White Frosting

2 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons cherry juice from maraschino cherries jar
1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Set bottom half of double- boiler, filled with 1 inch water, on stove and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In top of double- boiler, combine egg whites, sugar, water, flavoring, corn syrup and cream of tartar. Set double-boiler top into bottom. With handheld mixer at high speed, beat ingredients until soft peaks form and temperature reaches 160 degrees on candy thermometer, about 7 minutes. Remove double-boiler top and set on hot pad. Beat mixture 5 to 10 minutes longer, until stiff peaks form.

Invert cake layer still in pan on top of cake layer with filling, so that the filling forms a middle layer. Ice sides, then top with fluffy icing, using a spatula to spread icing smoothly. On top in the middle, lay the reserved ring of pineapple and put the reserved whole pecan in the middle of the ring. Arrange several cherries on top around the ring of pineapple. Serve to your true love.