My First Pineapple Upside Down Cake

As I've said here, I've always wanted to bake. I already baked brownies a couple of times but didn't get to take pictures because my kids ate them while they were still warm. Last week, I thought of making one of my favorite cakes, the Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

I already baked it with my classmates during one of our Home Economics class decades ago. But somehow, the taste and the aroma just didn't leave me. I've always wanted to bake it again. As a beginner, I searched online for the easiest-to-follow pineapple upside down cake recipes, took out the best tips from each recipe and came out with this:

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Adapted from here and here

Topping:
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
pineapple slices

Cake:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice/syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. orange zest
cherries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Using a 9" pan, melt the butter in the oven.Spread some of the melted butter on the sides of the pan then add sugar. Lay the pineapples and fill the gaps with cherries. Set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl then add egg.
4, Fold in 1/2 flour mixture, pour the milk, pineapple juice and vanilla. Mix well then add the remaining flour mixture.
5. Mix the orange zest and spoon batter in the pineapple then bake at 180°C for 40 minutes or when toothpick inserted at the middle comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes then invert onto a plate.
6. Let cool and serve.

Fred liked the end-product so much that he encouraged me to bake it again. He is one picky eater and his compliment just proved that my first try on this lovely cake is a success!