Hairy Bikers Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe

Hairy Bikers pineapple upside down cake is their peach version from Brilliant Bakes with rings swapped in, because they never published a pineapple one. That base is built on brown butter, so 10 slices come in at 370 calories each across 1 hour 55.

Their peach original was, in their words, “inspired by our travels in the Mediterranean”, and the brown butter is what carries it. So you boil 250g of butter until the milk solids brown and sink, which leaves 200g of nutty butter for the cake.

Drain the pineapple rings and pat them dry, because tinned fruit carries enough juice to turn the caramel watery. That step is not in the peach original, since peach segments hold far less liquid than a ring straight from the tin.

Hairy Bikers Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Baking Cuisine:British American Courses:Dessert

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time: 45 minutesRest time: 40 minutesTotal time:1 hour 55 minutesServings:10 servingsCalories:370 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Pineapple upside down cake works best turned out fast, so give it no more than ten minutes in the tin. The caramel sets hard as it cools, which glues the fruit to the base and leaves the top of the cake bare.

Ingredients

For the Topping

• 1 large tin of pineapple rings, about 7 to fit the base in one layer, drained and patted dry
• 7 glacé cherries
• 25g light brown soft sugar or demerara sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Sponge

• 250g unsalted butter, diced (this becomes 200g brown butter)
• 175g light brown soft sugar
• 175g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 3 eggs

Instructions

1. Make the brown butter: Put the 250g of diced butter in a large frying pan and heat it until melted and boiling. Keep it boiling and stir constantly until the foam subsides and the milk solids sink and turn brown. Pour it straight into a cold bowl, sediment and all, then chill it until solid again, about 30 minutes.
2. Dry the pineapple: Drain the pineapple rings well, then lay them on kitchen paper and pat both sides dry. You will not need the whole tin, since only about 7 rings fit the base in one layer. Do not tip any of the juice into the tin, since that is what makes the caramel watery.
3. Prepare the tin: Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4, then line a deep 20-21cm round tin with baking parchment. Avoid a loose-bottomed tin or the filling will leak, though foil under the parchment will save you.
4. Build the base: Rub 25g of the brown butter over the base, then mix the 25g of sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle it over. Arrange the pineapple rings on top and drop a glacé cherry into each hole.
5. Cream the sponge: Beat the remaining 175g of brown butter with the 175g of sugar until very soft and aerated.
6. Mix the dry ingredients: Mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl.
7. Add the eggs: Add the eggs one at a time, each with a heaped tablespoon of the flour mix, beating until smooth between each. Fold in the rest of the flour, then spoon the batter over the pineapple and smooth the top.
8. Bake: Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the sponge is springy to the touch and a deep golden brown.
9. Turn it out: Stand the cake for 5 to 10 minutes only, then run a knife round the sides. Invert it onto a large plate and peel off the parchment, since waiting longer sets the caramel hard.

FAQs

Is this actually a Hairy Bikers recipe?

Not exactly, and you deserve a straight answer on that. Si and Dave have four upside-down bakes across four books, but not one of them uses pineapple.

What you have here is the Brilliant Bakes peach recipe with two changes made, and both of them are mine. The rings replace the peach segments, and plain flour replaces the gluten-free flour, while everything else stays theirs.

What does the brown butter do?

It replaces plain melted butter with something nuttier, and it is the reason this sponge does not taste like a packet mix. Boiling the butter drives off the water and toasts the milk solids, which is where the flavour comes from.

You start with 250g and end with 200g, so do not skip the weighing or the sponge ratios go out. Include the brown sediment when you pour it out, because that is the part doing the work.

Do I have to use tinned pineapple?

Tinned is easier, though fresh works if you treat it the same way. Cut fresh pineapple into rings about 1cm thick, then dry them on kitchen paper just like the tinned ones.

Fresh releases more liquid during the bake, so give the cake the full 45 minutes rather than checking at 40. Their banana and pineapple cake takes the fruit a different way, since the pineapple is chopped into the batter instead.

How do I know when it is baked?

The sponge should be springy to the touch and a deep golden brown, not pale. That takes 40 to 45 minutes here, which is five minutes longer than the peach original needs.

The extra time is down to the rings holding more moisture, even after draining. Push a skewer into the sponge away from the fruit if you are unsure, since it should come out clean.

Can I make it ahead?

Best not, and this is one cake that really is worth eating the day you bake it. The fruit keeps releasing juice into the sponge as it sits, so the base gets wetter overnight rather than better.

Serve it warm with cream or ice cream, though it is good cold on the same day too. If you want a pudding you can reheat instead, their sticky toffee pudding holds up far better.