Our fashionable relationship with seasonality is a humorous factor. Whereas we frequently proselytize about consuming native, in-season greens and fruit, we additionally love our bananas, mangoes and pineapples — all of which principally don’t develop on a big scale wherever close to us — for our morning smoothies or fruit bowls. We regularly consider tropical fruit as winter fruit (no less than right here within the Northern Hemisphere), swooping in to brighten dreary days with their beachy vibes and sun-gold glow. However fruit like mangoes and pineapples are in peak season in the course of the summer time (though, sure, they’re additionally out there year-round).
Sure, right here in Southern California stone fruit and berries abound proper now, and I get my fill of them for certain, however my favourite fruit to go HAM on throughout summer time is pineapple. I crave the tropical fruit that connotes lazy sunny days with each tart, refreshing chew. However in case you’ve ever been purchasing for one, you understand that discovering an amazing pineapple isn’t not like selecting a ripe melon or avocado. You must know what to search for (principally yellow rind), choose at it a bit (the centermost leaves on prime ought to draw back simply) and provides it a sniff (on the stalk finish, it ought to scent like, properly, a candy pineapple). And in any case that, it’s important to let it sit for a number of days to essentially guarantee it’s ripe. That is the half the place my impatience often will get the very best of me.
First you cook dinner pineapple chunks with brown sugar, butter and sea salt in order that the pineapple juices cut back to a buttery sauce, for the cake’s topping.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Instances)
However whereas speaking to a grocery retailer employee in my neighborhood not too long ago, I realized that the pineapple, mangoes and, properly, principally all of the ready fruit bought in plastic containers within the deli part of the shop is from fruit that was on the market earlier than however now was too ripe to promote entire. So, as a substitute of choosing and prodding and worrying and ready to see in case your pineapple or mango is ripe, you might simply purchase the prepackaged type and know that it’s.
Now, I’ll admit, this doesn’t work throughout the board — I’ve had my fair proportion of rock-hard, terrible mango from a kind of containers — however by and huge, the ready pineapple is all the time nice. And it’s extra handy in case you’re somebody who can’t get round to consuming an entire one. And clearly, most individuals already know this: It’s the meals snobs and recipe people like me who really feel obligated to insist you break down an entire pineapple your self. Whereas I’ve to espouse that perception to maintain my job, I’ll relent now and again, particularly as a result of I typically have these containers of pineapple in my fridge from my companion’s procuring journeys (he doesn’t share my predilection for needing to chop up fruit “from scratch”).
Whereas I take pleasure in consuming pineapple as is, after greater than two items, it begins to really feel as if the acids within the pineapple are consuming away on the within my mouth (and properly, they type of are?), so I keep on with principally cooked preparations. One of many issues that I’ve devised to make with all these ready pineapple cubes sitting round is pineapple upside-down cake, considered one of my favourite summertime treats.
Buttery, caramel-y and tropical — the right summer-vibes pineapple upside-down cake.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Instances)
Like most of you, I grew up with completely great variations made with canned pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. I discover nothing fallacious with indulging in that nostalgia occasionally, however utilizing contemporary pineapple — particularly when it’s already reduce up for you — is sarcastically simpler and clearly tastes extra vibrant and acidic, all the higher to chop via the wealthy cake batter.
I’ve made sufficient pineapple upside-down desserts in my life to appreciate that the batter for such desserts — actually all “upside-down” fruit desserts — is deliberately made to be dry as a result of, because the considering goes, the moisture from the fruit because it cooks will moisten the crumb of the batter above it. And whereas that does occur to a level, it by no means occurs sufficient for my liking, and plenty of recipes end in a super-delicious, moist and sugary fruit topping sitting over a dry, crumbly cake that, except eaten in equal proportion and chewed in harmonious synchronicity, must be chased by a gulp of water to get it down.
My work-around is utilizing an ingredient that’s celebrated for giving loads of tender texture and moisture to desserts with out including additional liquid: almond paste. Sometimes, entire desserts made with almond paste are baked and topped with extra nuts within the type of flakes or slivered almonds, however I desire it as a base for upside-down fruit desserts significantly as a result of it’s like including almond extract to a cake batter, and that pairs so properly with many fruits. Stone fruits are the plain match, however I discover the perfumed almond taste provides an amazing edge to tropical fruits like pineapple too, complementing the latter’s intense acidity.
The batter for this pineapple upside-down cake consists of almond paste and helps make a moist cake.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Instances)
I slice up these ready cubes of pineapple, cook dinner them with a bit brown sugar after which prime them with the eggy, almond-y cake batter. As soon as flipped and cooled, the pineapple topping and cake batter fuse collectively harmoniously, and the cake stays moist for days. I return to it many times, slicing off shims of tender however barely chewy (in a great way) cake each time I would like a pick-me-up. And if serving it for a cocktail party or to a visitor, that’s the place the cherries (you thought I forgot?) come again into the fold. Every slice will get a small spoonful of cherry jam — or Luxardo cherries, in case you’ve obtained the spare money — and a dollop of whipped cream.
It’s the right summer time cake since you’ll inevitably cease into your native grocery retailer, sweaty and blistered from a day on the seashore, and seize these bowls of pineapple to wake and refresh you, so use what’s left to make this cake. It takes components of comfort and transforms them right into a deal with that can hold that relaxed and beachy summer time expertise going whereas solely requiring a short foray into the fluorescent glow of the grocery retailer deli aisle to get began.
Get the recipe:
Time1 hour half-hour
YieldsServes 8 to 10