Upside-down pineapple cake

Ingredients

Sauce: 

• ⅓ cup (75g) castor sugar 
• ⅓ cup (80ml) water 
• ⅓ cup (80g) butter

• 2 pineapples, cleaned and sliced in half-moons of 5mm-thick 
• ½ cup (125ml) soft butter 
• 1½ cups (330g) castor sugar 
• 4 large eggs 
• 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence  
• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour, sifted 
• Pinch fine salt 
• Cherries, for serving  

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. 
2. Line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper and coat with non-stick spray. 
3. Combine castor sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil (do not stir). 
4. Cook syrup for 12-15 minutes until it is an amber colour. 
5. Stir butter into syrup. 
6. Pour syrup into cake tin and top with pineapple slices. 
7. Cream butter and castor sugar together until pale and sugar is dissolved, about 8-10 minutes. 
8. Add eggs one at a time, whisking to incorporate before adding the next one. 
9. Whisk in vanilla essence. 
10. Combine self-raising flour and salt in a separate bowl, then add wet mixture into dry ingredients. 
11. Spoon onto pineapple base. 
12. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 
13. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, remove the cake ring and cool completely. 
14. Place a plate on top of the cake and flip the cake over in one swift motion. 
15. Remove baking paper. 
16. Serve cake topped with cherries.  

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