Showing posts with label pineapple upside-down cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pineapple upside-down cake. Show all posts
Sunday, September 1, 2013
FRESH PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE (VEGAN, OF COURSE!)
Due to the fact that I am once again preparing for company and time is short, I'm finally sharing a recipe that I developed for my old newsletter, the Vegan Feast, and that has become a house favorite. Having developed a taste for fresh pineapple, I was determined to make a traditional-style upside-down cake, but with fresh pineapple instead of the usual canned variety. Fresh pineapple is sweet, but it has a pleasing tartness that adds more interest to this cake. I reduced the fat and sugar in this recipe as low as I could go while still keeping the traditional flavor. I also added some toasted large-flake coconut for a Hawaiian touch, but, if you prefer, you could add halved macadamia nuts to the pineapple topping before baking. Enjoy!
BRYANNA'S FRESH
PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
Serves 10
BATTER:
Dry Mix:
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (do not substitute ordinary whole wheat flour or your cake may be tough)
1 cup light unbleached granulated organic sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Wet Mix:
1 cup non-dairy milk
2 Tbs oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Beaten Egg-Replacer Mixture:
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs Ener-G or Orgran egg replacer powder
TOPPING:
2 Tbs vegan butter (try my palm oil-free vegan "Buttah")
2 Tbs agave nectar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 a medium fresh, ripe pineapple, sliced about 1/2-inch thick
(**see videos below recipe for how to select, peel and slice a fresh pineapple with or without a pineapple corer/slicer**)
(**see videos below recipe for how to select, peel and slice a fresh pineapple with or without a pineapple corer/slicer**)
FINISHING:
1/4 cup unsweetened large flake coconut, lightly toasted (How to toast coconut: http://bakingbites.com/2009/01/how-to-toast-coconut/)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Melt the vegan butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or a 10-inch round baking pan (2 to 3 inches deep) or one that is 9 inches across the bottom and 11 inches across the top. (Do NOT use a pan with a
removable bottom.) Stir in the agave nectar and brown sugar and spread even
over the bottom of the pan. Place the pineapple slices over the mixture in a
pleasing pattern, covering as much of the bottom of the pan as possible.
Beat the water and egg replacer in a stand mixer until like
almost-stiffly-beaten egg whites (about 7-10 minutes). You can use the whip
attachment on a Kitchen-Aid mixer, or any stand mixer--
it doesn't need a powerful motor to perform this task. (You could even use a
hand-held electric beater if you don’t mind holding it
for 7-10 minutes.)
While the egg replacer is beating, whisk together the Dry Mix ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the Wet Mix to the Dry Mix and stir very briefly, just to mix. (Use a Danish dough whisk, if you have one.)
Fold the beaten egg replacer mixture into the batter using an
over and under motion with a spatula, until you can't see the egg replacer
anymore.
Gently spread dough evenly over pineapple slices. Bake for 45-50 minutes,
or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool for at least 5 minutes, in the pan, on a cake rack;
then loosen the edges and carefully turn out onto a large round cake dish or
platter. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut flakes. Allow to cool before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per
serving): 289.9 calories; 20% calories from fat; 6.7g total fat; 0.0mg
cholesterol; 137.3mg sodium; 269.7mg potassium; 56.0g
carbohydrates; 2.6g fiber; 35.1g sugar; 3.8g protein; 5.8 points.
HOW TO SELECT, PEEL, AND SLICE A PINEAPPLE WITH ONLY A KNIFE:
HOW TO SELECT, PEEL, AND SLICE A PINEAPPLE WITH ONLY A KNIFE:
Friday, December 10, 2010
RECIPES I MADE FROM 2 COOKBOOKS I RECOMMEND, AND A NEW TOOL
Last night we had dinner at our good friends Yoshi and Susan-Marie's house. Our hosts provided the bulk of the meal, our friends David and Carmen brought a lovely green salad, and I brought a bean dish and a simple dessert. The dinner wasn't Japanese, but was served somewhat in the Japanese style, with a number of small vegetable dishes to complement the rice. Yoshi made a delicious rice dish with yuba (beancurd skin) and mushrooms, and Susan-Marie served it with; a sweet and sour tomato soup with potatoes, steamed winter squash, marinated leeks and crostini. Most of the produce she used was grown in their own garden. The leeks tasted almost like marinated artichokes... so good!
I brought a dish I blogged about before-- Madhur Jaffrey's Black-Eyed Peas with Corn and Dill from her book "World Vegetarian". I've been reading (and owning) Ms. Jaffrey's books for years, but "World Vegetarian" is my favorite. It's not confined to Indian cuisine, with over 600 recipes from five continents with endless flavor combinations for beans, vegetables and grains (and dairy, too-- but you can ignore that chapter or use vegan subs). This encyclopedic volume it is arranged so that you can look up the chapter, say, on "Dried Beans, Dried Peas, Lentils and Nuts" and check for, in my case this time, recipes featuring black-eyed peas, and you will find a few recipes utilizing whatever is the particular item you have in mind and in your pantry. You always find a new surprise because you are always looking at it in a different frame of mind from the last time!
The recipe I made (on p. 19) is one of my favorites. It's made with items that I always have in my cupboard and freezer (corn, dill, chiles, onions, etc.),and it's full of flavor and texture, but very easy to make. Diners are always surprised by the goodness of this homey but spicy dish.
For dessert I brought the pineapple upside-down cake from Tamasin Noyes' recent and very popular book, "American Vegan Kitchen
". It was easy to make and turned out beautifully-- as you can see from the photo! The only changes I made were to use half wholewheat pastry flour in the batter, and substitute dried cranberries for the cherries in the topping. Our hostess asked me for the recipe because she, though not a vegan, would prefer to make this without the eggs and so much fat as her normal recipe. We ate the whole thing!
". It was easy to make and turned out beautifully-- as you can see from the photo! The only changes I made were to use half wholewheat pastry flour in the batter, and substitute dried cranberries for the cherries in the topping. Our hostess asked me for the recipe because she, though not a vegan, would prefer to make this without the eggs and so much fat as her normal recipe. We ate the whole thing!
Tamasin's book is well-written, with clear instructions, lots of homemade basics (so you don't have to go buy all your components!), and the kind of recipes most us in North America remember with nostalgia!
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Here's a photo of my homemade Almond Creme whipped topping on top of a trifle (UPDATE: recipe from my book "World Vegan Feast", and shared here:
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NEW KITCHEN TOOL (GOT MY CHRISTMAS PRESENT EARLY!):
My new Cinnamon Red KitchenAid Wide-Mouth 12-cup food processor!
A few months ago my food processor died and I had to decide on a new one. The KitchenAid got rave reviews, but I couldn't afford the 12-cup one (over $300 in Canada!), so I got the 7-cup one with a small extra bowl for chopping small amounts. It's a great machine, but I missed having more room to do large batches, and my stepson said he'd buy my smaller one. Cook's Illustrated magazine reviewed food processors and gave the 12-cupper a rave review-- even better than the largest Cuisinart! Now they have one with "the largest feed-tube in the business!", called a "wide mouth"-- you can practically put 1/2 a small cabbage in there! I searched and searched for the best prices, locally and online, debating whether to go for the older 12-cupper, or the new wide-mouth. Price WAS an issue, even though I expect to get alot of years out of it.
Well, long story short, I found the wide-mouth (in Cinnamon Red-- not a popular color, I guess!) on eBay, IN CANADA (wonder of wonders), brand-new, in the box, for $179 (which included shipping!). That included all the 3 slicing and shredding discs, an egg whip (have to try it with egg replacer!), and a citrus press. (You can get this same one in white
in the States from amazon.com for $199 in the States; or in Candy Apple red
, with 4 discs for $228. But it was $273.75 Cnd. from amazon.ca and $379 in alot of places in Canada!. So, I'm happy, and my stepson is happy!
in the States from amazon.com for $199 in the States; or in Candy Apple red, with 4 discs for $228. But it was $273.75 Cnd. from amazon.ca and $379 in alot of places in Canada!. So, I'm happy, and my stepson is happy!
It should get a work-out during the holiday season, and looks very Christmasy, too!
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