Pineapple upside down cake

Adapted slightly from simplyrecipes.com.

This tastes like a hybrid of a pineapple upside down cake and a sticky toffee pudding, and the almond really comes through too. Definitely one of my favorite deserts ever.

Makes 12 to 14 servings.

Try halving the size of this, piglet. One ring "individual" servings per 2 people?

INGREDIENTS

Topping:

• • 8 oz dark brown sugar

  • 4 oz butter (1 stick, salted)

  • 1 20 oz can of pineapple slices in juice, not syrup (or half a fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into rings)

Cake:

• • 8 oz flour

  • 2 oz ground almonds

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 12 oz sugar

  • 8 oz butter at room temperature (2 sticks, salted)

  • 4 eggs

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 6 fl oz sour cream (3/4 cup)

EQUIPMENT

• • 10 inch diameter cake pan, at least 2 inches deep, or equivalent. Using ceramic seems to result in nice even heat distribution and caramel browning.

METHOD

• 1. Preheat oven to 325F

  2. Take brown sugar and butter for the topping and combine and melt in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbly (do not stir after the sugar melts), this should take several minutes. 

  3. Pour mixture into the cake pan. Arrange pineapple slices in a single layer on top of the caramel mixture.

  4. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter together until light. Scrape down the side of the bowl.

  5. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

  6. Beat in the vanilla.

  7. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the flours, almonds, and baking powder.

  8. Add to the stand mixer: half the dry ingredients, then half the sour cream, the rest of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream; beating well after each addition.

  9. Pour cake batter over caramel and pineapple in pan. Set pan in oven on top of tin foil (to catch drips - burning caramel is hard on your oven)

  10. Bake cake until tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

  11. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Thomas Keller: http://www.foodgal.com/2009/07/preview-ii-ad-hoc-pineapple-upside-down-cake-recipe/

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2012/04/pineapple-upside-down-cake-with-toasted-coconut-ice-cream.html#more-8225

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/food52-TheAandMBlog/~3/JKp3vyEzIxY/3142_my_moms_pineapple_upsidedown_cake

Note the especially beautiful picture.