Living life to the fullest : Pineapple Upside Down Cake, in a cast iron skillet

I recently joined a group on Facebook called Cooking with Cast Iron. I own two Lodge cast iron skillets, one 10" and one 12". I hadn't been using them, haven forgotten about them. They were in the bottom of a cabinet, just waiting to be brought out into the light again.

So, after joining the group, I've been making an effort to use them. I've made many dinners in them. Pork Chops with Apples, Goulash, Tuscan Sausage and Peppers. The list goes on. However, I haven't done many sweet things in them.

A little back info to this post is that I work at Starbucks. I work with a bunch of really great people and I often bring in "tasty treats", as one coworker calls them, for the gang. I satisfy my baking urges and I don't have all those fattening things here in my house, with only me to eat them. :)

Friday one of my coworkers suggested Pineapple Upside-down Cake as a tasty treat for Monday. I realized that while I have made Peach Upside-down Cake (my Mom's recipe), I had never attempted a pineapple version. Challenge accepted. :) And, while I usually make my Mom's recipe in a cake pan, I decided to use my 12" cast iron pan instead.

The recipe was a simple one. Butter in the pan. Brown sugar on that. Pineapple slices over that.

A quick batter mixed up and poured over top. I used the liquid from the pineapples for the liquid in the recipe and added a teaspoon of vanilla.

Baked for about 25 minutes. I let it cool for about 5 minutes and them flipped it onto a cake circle as I have no plates large enough for a 12" cake.

It turned out very well. Delicious, actually. Edges have a little bite of bit to them. That crunchy kind of bite that comes from sugar caramelizing around the edges of a pan. Adding the pineapple juice as the liquid was a good move because it also added a little extra flavor. While I think I still prefer my Mom's peach version, this was pretty darned good. I think the crew at Starbucks will be happy come Monday morning.