Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

ALL YOU NEED:
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For the Caramel-Pineapple Layer

• 3 oz (6 Tablespoons or 3/4 stick) butter (salted is fine here)
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• heavy pinch of salt if using unsalted butter; wee pinch if using salted butter
• about 6-8 oz chopped pineapple (fresh or canned in juice)

For the Cake

• 12 oz unsalted butter
• 18 oz granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons best quality vanilla
• 1 gently rounded teaspoon sea salt
• 5 eggs , beaten (add 1 egg yolk for moisture)
• 13 oz cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 8 oz chopped pineapple (fresh or canned in juice)
• 2 oz sour cream (Depending on how moist you want your cake, I would add 2 additional oz)

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1. Make sure all your refrigerated ingredients are at cool room temperature.
2. Spray a 12-cup Bundt-type pan with pan spray. Flour it well, and tap out all the excess flour.
3. Make sure your oven rack is positioned one notch below the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F.

For the Caramel Pineapple Layer

1. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan.
2. Add the sugar and salt, and stir until dissolved.
3. Let the mixture come to a boil. When nice and bubbly without any butter sloshing around the edges of the sugar, pour evenly into the prepared pan.
4. Arrange the cut pineapple on top however you want. I just used chopped, but half-rounds alternating in direction would look lovely.
5. Set pan aside.

For the Cake

1. Whisk together the cake flour and baking powder until well combined. Set aside.
2. Puree pineapple and sour cream together in a blender. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as often as necessary.
4. With the mixer on medium speed, add the beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until completely incorported. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, mixing on low just until each addition is incorporated. Begin and end with dry for a total of 3 dry additions and 2 wet additions.
6. Spoon batter evenly over the caramel-pineapple layer in the prepared pan.
7. Smooth the batter, and bake in your preheated oven until done. This takes 1 hour and 5 minutes in my oven. Start checking at 55 minutes and go from there.
8. Remove cake from oven and cover with a piece of foil. Let sit for 45 minutes, then turn out onto the plate you'll be serving it on.
9. Replace any pineapple pieces that might get stuck in the bottom of the pan and smooth down with an offset spatula sprayed with pan spray.
10. Spray a parchment circle with pan spray and press onto the gooey caramel layer. Then, wrap the whole cake very well in plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge.
11. Serve at room temperature. This cake doesn't need any glaze, but a little vanilla or caramel ice cream or coconut sorbet would go nicely with it.

ENJOY!

Recipe adapted from pastrychefonline