Upside-Down Pineapple Cake

Yesterday was my youngest brother-in-law's last day in Nova Scotia before he headed back to school in Florida. I can't believe how fast the last five weeks have flown by! It was great getting to spend some time with Joseph, he's grown up so much since he left for Pensacola a year and half ago. Joseph is the baby of the family and his older siblings (J included) have always treated him that way. These past five weeks I think they all saw their brother as more than the baby and I think their relationship with him changed and grew. It was great to see. He and J spent some one-on-one time skiing and I have to admit it made me really happy. (I'm a dork, and I accept that.)

 

The entire family went over to my mother- and father-in-law's place for lasagna last night. My mother-in-law doesn't make lasagna very often but we all get pretty excited when she does. I will always pick my mom's chilli, my mom's turkey dinner, and my mom's cookies but when it comes to lasagna my mother-in-law definitely wins. (Just don't tell my mom!)

 

I was off yesterday so I volunteered to make dessert. I've always wanted to try a pineapple upside down cake and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I was really happy with how well this cake turned out, and how simple it was to make. It was a huge hit with the whole family. If you're looking for something new to try, I definitely recommend giving this cake a try!

 

 

Upside-Down Pineapple Cake
Makes: 9 Pieces
Prep Time: 20 min. Total Time: 60 min.
Source: compliments.ca

[ Ingredients ]

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
9 slices pineapple (drained)
9 maraschino cherries
3 tbsp water

3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup of butter
1 large egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

[ Directions ]

1. Pre-heat oven to 325° F.
2. In a small saucepan heat brown sugar, butter and water. Stir mixture until it boils.
3. Grease the side of an 8x8 baking pan and pour the mixture in. Arrange your pineapple slices and cherries. (I had to cut a couple of the slices to get them to fit properly.)
4. Using an electric mixer cream the sugar and butter. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix well.
5. Combine all the dry ingredients and then use a spatular to fold them into the wet ingredients.
6. Pour the batter into your greased pan and put it in the oven for 40 minutes. Check to make sure the cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the centre. If the toothpick comes out clean it's done.
7. Once cake has completely cooled invert it on to a plate and serve.

Enjoy!

Lemon Cake with Blueberry Frosting

For my mother-in-law's birthday every year we go out for Chinese food and then come back to my place for cake and ice cream. (And by every year I mean for the last two years.) This year I decided I wanted to do something a little fancier so I spent some time scouring Pinterest for something that didn't sound too difficult, but looked pretty.

I eventually stumbled on this Betty Crocker recipe for Lemon Cake with Raspberry Mousse that I thought I could handle. Layer cakes make me nervous - when J and I were first married I attempted to make a layer cake for his birthday and it ended up being the ugliest cake ever - but I decided it was time to face my fears.

And I'm glad I did! I went with blueberry instead of raspberry which worked really well with the lemon cake. The cake ended up looking good (okay, good is a stretch, but it didn't look too bad!) and it was tasty.

In case you want to try it yourself, here's the recipe:

Lemon Cake with Blueberry Mousse
Adapted from this Betty Crocker recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 box of lemon cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups blueberry pie filling (I used Compliments by Sobeys)
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (Or 325° for dark or non-stick pans)
2. Spray (or grease) two 8-inch round cake pans
3. In large bowl beat cake mix, buttermilk, oil, lemon peel and eggs with electric mixer. Beat on low for about 30 seconds then on medium for 1-2 minutes. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally.
4. Pour cake evenly into pans and bake as directed on the box.
5. Cool cakes in pans for 10 to 15 minutes then remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool cakes completely before frosting. (This is super important.)
6. Place one cake layer (rounded side down) on a serving plate then spread 3/4 cup of the pie filling over cake layer to within 1/4 inch of edge. Top with the second layer, rounded side up this time.
7. In chilled medium bowl, beat whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. (I worried I wouldn't be able to tell when it was the right consistency, but it was pretty obvious.) Beat in the remaining 1 1/4 cups pie filling on low speed just until blended. (I actually used a bit more of the pie filling since there was some left in the can, just to give it more of a blueberry flavour.)
8. Frost side and top of cake with blueberry mousse.

If you're not sure how to frost the cake (and I wasn't) check out this Youtube video:
 

 

 

Let me know if you try it out!