Age group(s) for this recipe:
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond

Estimated time:
20 min. prep. and 45-50 min. bake time.

Number of servings:
approx. 7

Ingredients: (Hit your return key to start a new line)
Topping:

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

1 can pineapple slices (20 oz.)

maraschino cherries (optional)
--------------------------------

Cake:

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. milk

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat butter in round cake pan, 9 inches by 1 1/2 inches (that's the minimum depth; 2 inches would be a skosh better!)until melted. Sprinkle brown sugar over the melted butter. Place pineapple rings on top of this, 6 rings around the sides, and one in the middle.

A maraschino cherry may be placed at center of each pineapple slice. Set aside and prepare cake batter.

Beat all ingredients for cake batter in a large mixing bowl, until thoroughly combined (a whisk works OK for this).

Pour cake batter over the pineapple in the pan. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until cake is a lovely golden brown. Allow cake to cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a heat-proof plate. Serve either warm or cold. Whipped topping is a great option, of course!

Other suggestions and comments:
Be careful about the pan size; with a smaller pan, or extra fruit volume, I think my cake pan could have runneth over. It was exactly right this time.

I had placed some cherries running along the edge of the pineapple slices, in addition to the single cherries at center of each slice. Next time, I would just do "middles" only (7 cherries). That would make the slices slightly more even, and look just as pretty.

Small children can help sprinkle brown sugar, and place the pineapple and cherries in the pan. They can help measure cake batter ingredients, whup the batter, and pour it into the pan. And they will be surprised the first time they see the finished cake, all Upside-Down! All usual Safety concerns apply here, especially for the Big People handling the in n' out of the oven task...and the Plop the Cake on the pan part, too. Count aloud: "1, 2, 3, Flip! Wow!!!"

A good dessert to make on 'Backwards Day,' if you ever do that 4 fun.

I had this only once or twice as a child, so I still approach it like a child. Sooo pretty, so fragrant, so warm n' Home-y.
Comfort food, extremely satisfying with a glass of milk. With the cherries added, it's as pretty as a birthday cake; the lack of frosting layers won't be missed at all by a pineapple afficianado.

Perfect for Fall and Winter, and it bakes at the same temp. as many casseroles would.