Saturday, March 30, 2013

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake. I saw this recipe in the Sunday newspaper and decided that I would like to make this recipe for Easter & convert this recipe to gluten free. I like pineapple upside down cake & I love cheesecake. The combination sounded delicious. The dessert has the traditional pineapple upside down topping and cake but it has an added layer of cheese cake filling in the center with another layer of cake on top. It is baked in a spring form pan so it is nice & thick. Yummy!

You can make this dessert a little quicker if you have a gluten free cake mix to use. (I didn't have one so I made a recipe of homemade cake batter instead. I included the homemade cake recipe below for those interested). I was holding my breath that this dessert would turn out tasting delicious but also be elegant enough to serve for the main Easter dessert. (I was really afraid that the layers would separate and slide off the cake pedestal or the cheese cake layer wouldn't be firm enough to hold the cake layer. Not to worry...it flipped over beautifully and held its shape perfectly).

Of course if you do not have a gluten allergy...just use regular cake mix or your favorite homemade cake recipe for the batter! 

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake:

  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 can (20 oz.) pineapple slices
  • 8 maraschino cherries
  • 2 pkgs. cream cheese (8 oz. each), soft
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tbs. corn starch or tapioca starch or gelatin powder or you can use lemon flavor Jello
  • 1 (9 oz) yellow or white cake mix, prepared according to instructions on box (or one batch of homemade cake mix, prepared. The recipe should make one 9x13 pan or two 9" round pans). There are several good gluten free cake mixes available - just make sure it makes a regular size cake or you will need two mixes!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9" spring form pan with cooking spray. Stir together the melted butter and brown sugar. Spoon into bottom of pan. Place pineapple rings on top of the butter-brown sugar mixture. Place a cherry in each pineapple ring. Prepare the cake mix (or homemade cake batter) according to directions. Pour half of the batter over the pineapple & cherries. Beat the cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, eggs and starch or gelatin powder together.  Spoon gently over the cake batter. Pour remaining cake batter over the cream cheese mixture. Bake 65-75 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs. Cool 5 minutes in pan before turning onto a plate or cake pedestal. Cool additional 30+ minutes before serving to allow cake to set up firm. (NOTE: if you are using raw sugar then make sure you put it in the blender or food processor to get a fine texture or it will be too gritty!)


Cake just pulled from oven. It is cooling 5 minutes before I flip it onto platter


My recipe for gluten free cake recipe:

  • 1/2 cup brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup white rice flour
  • 1 cup tapioca starch or corn starch
  • 1/2 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. xanthan gum
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2/3 cups melted butter or you can substitute Crisco or vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (you can substitute almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, coconut milk or fruit juice. I used pineapple juice today since I didn't want to waste what was left in the can of pineapple rings. Just add a little water if you don't have quite enough juice or milk.)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (I like using almond baking emulsion)
  • 1 tbs. custard powder or vanilla pudding mix powder (this is optional. I think it adds a nice texture to the cake. Gluten free flour sometimes doesn't have the heaviness that regular flour has and I think the custard powder or pudding mix powder gives it a little balance. But it is completely optional). 

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the eggs, milk or juice & slightly cooled butter (you want it in a liquid form but not too hot that it will cook your eggs when you combine them!). Add vanilla or almond flavoring. Beat for 2 minutes.









I was pleased with the overall result of this cake and would definitely make it again. It make a nice showy dessert for a special occasion (Mother's Day, Birthday, Easter, Father's Day, etc.) I hope you enjoyed my gluten free version of these delectable dessert.

Tanja
Gluten Free Casually

No comments:

Post a Comment