As American As....

Sometimes I envy home cooks who are firmly entrenched in a regional tradition, and make the classic dishes of their cuisine with the confidence normally associated with breathing. While it is a pleasure to investigate new foods and preparations, it is also a (different sort of) pleasure to entirely lose yourself in what you are doing,as if you were on a roll painting, or listening to music or something. And then,too, it is so interesting when individual cooks put their own stamp on some such traditional dish, and discuss the variations among themselves.

Many North American home cooks, as I do, try out and adopt a wide range of dishes with origins beyond our regions, from different culinary traditions. I guess is not surprising, given our "melting pot" population. It has given us a freedom with our food that has only recently been available to cooks elsewhere. There are a few dishes, though, which feel quite uniquely American, and which carry with them the sort of feeling of home that say, a Belgian might associate with moules and frites.

One such delicacy is the BLT. Made with the necessary in-season juicy sub-acid local tomato, crispy bacon, tender lettuce, and a slick of mayo, this is a unequaled flavor and texture extravaganza which, as far as I know, has no precise non-american equivalent. Excluding vegetarians, and folks who keep kosher or traditional Muslim homes, the BLT is pretty much universally beloved. I am eagerly awaiting the first tomatoes of the year, so I can make some.

Another is the pineapple upside-down cake. It is hard to find anyone who dislikes this dessert, which became suddenly popular around the turn of the (20th) century, when canned pineapple began appearing all over the US, for the first time. It has remained a popular classic. The subsequent inexplicable craze for cake mixes and fear of scratch baking does not seemed to have touched this recipe. I don't know anyone who makes this cake with a mix, it's just too simple to bother. Generally, if you are served some, you can be sure it will be pretty good, and will not have weird chemical tastes and textures.

Okay, the PUDC does have something in common with inverted pies and cakes originating elsewhere, but not much. This gooey, fruity, buttery-cake stuff is really nothing like a tart tatin at all. The following version, based on the one in the Gourmet Cookbook, is gussied up with the use of fresh pineapple and (my addition of) homemade maraschinos. It is also made in (overlarge) individual servings, which I think perhaps is not the best idea. I succumbed to the lure of using my sweet mini-tube pans. It's all very cute, but really, this sticky cake is both easier, and better looking, made as one large circle or square. Often, it is made in a cast-iron skillet, which really does the trick, topping-wise.That way, too, you can give people custom-sized portions.

The maraschino cherries are made, quite simply, by soaking good quality dried sweet cherries in maraschino liquor for a couple of weeks. They keep almost indefinitely in the fridge, and are always a delightful surprise anyplace you might expect to see a commercial maraschino plopped. The hardest part of making them is finding the lovely Luxardo Maraschino liquor. Kirsch is really not an adequate substitute. I also dribbled a bit of the cherry-soaking liquor over the top of the upended pineapple. I believe that in one of the Marcella Hazan books, she said that you could make a popular simple Italian dessert, by drizzling maraschino liquor over canned pineapple slices. I think it's nice on the cake, too.

Here's what you need-I don't see why you couldn't make this same recipe in an 8" pan, cooking a bit longer. but I haven't actually tried that with this exact recipe, which makes 6 individual cakes, the size of mini-bundts.

Pineapple Part

unsalted butter, 4 tbsps
dark brown sugar 1/3 cup
6 slices fresh pineapple

Cake

cake flour 1 1/2 cups
baking powder 2 tsps
pinch salt
milk 1/2 cup
vanilla 1 tsp
unsalted butter, softened 6 tbsps
sugar 3/4 cup
egg yolks 2 large
1/4 cup homemade maraschinos and their liquor

Use a nonstick mini cake an or xtra large (i cup ea.) muffin tin. Spray with a bit of light tasting oil spray. Preheat oven to 350F.

Pineapple layer:
Melt butter in a small saucepan or in a microwave. Stir in brown sugar until dissolved. Pour mixture into each min, dividing equally. Fit one pineapple ring in the bottom of each mini pan.

Cake: Mix butter and sugar with electric mixer, until light and creamy. Mix in vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl with whisk, set aside.

Add yolks to mixer, beat well. Mix dry ingredients and milk alternately, at a low speed, stopping when just mixed. Spoon mixture into minis, dividing equally. Smooth down a bit, and bake 25-30 minutes, or until pufy and pale gold. Cool 15 minutes on rack, then invert onto another rack. If you have mini tube pans like mine, you can fill the holes with your little cherries. If they are smooth topped cakes, push one cherry into the surface, mid-pineapple slice. Drizzle with maraschino liquor, or if you haven't got any, a little rum. Cool completely and serve, with whipped cream if you really want to go to town.

Comments

[lobstersquad]

I love recipes like that, that you´ll still be making when all faddy food has dissapeared from the horizon. And BLT , yum, great invention.

[Julie]

Yes, I really want to go to town!! I want mine with whipped cream! Pineapple upside down cake is a wonderful thing.

I'm with you on the BLT also. That's a pretty perfect sandwich.

[Ivonne]

I have always wanted to make a PUDC. You've done a wonderful job ... lovely photo.

[Tanna]

BLT and PUDC, I never thought of them being so All American. There are some things that can be tweeked as your Luxardo Maraschino liquor but the classic is still the classic. Beautiful write up and photo.

[Vicki in Michigan]

I like peanut butter on my BLT. Talk about American......

[littlebouffe]

I love this cake, and it makes me think of my father. I make it for him almost every father's day (he loves it too). I have made it from a mix before (hey, I was a kid), but on my aunt's advice I replaced the water with the pineapple juice and used 1/4 sour cream instead of an egg, and it was awesome. I have also used pecan halves instead of cherries, but I like it both ways.

I will make the Gourmet version when my father is back in the USA, now that's you've pointed it out.

Thanks so much, Lindy.

[mzn]

This is a great post. I especially liked the part about BLTs being "an unequaled flavor and texture extravaganza." Yes! I wish I could say that of all my meals.

I also wanted to mention that it's always fun to say "upside-down cake."

[Lynn D.]

Oddly, neither my mother nor husband is fond of cooked pineapple, so I have only had pineapple upside down cake in school cafeterias. I still adored it. I also love crushed pineapple in carrot cake and jello salads, which my family think is terrible tacky.

Vicky in Michigan-I invented a PBLT for my (vegetarian) son: peanut butter, lettuce and tomato with smoked paprika.

My husband once had a BLT prepared by a Japanese client. He said that until you have had a BLT made by a Japanese housewife, you haven't had one. What was the secret? Just the exquisite care taken toasting the bread, crisping the lettuce, frying the salty bacon to still slightly chewy crispiness, and slicing the perfect tomato, then assembling it lovingly. Or perhaps it was the famous Kewpie mayonnaise? He will never forget it.

[lindy]

lobstersquad-Me too. I suppose these are different dishes for us, depending on our backgrounds, but some how it is pretty easy to recognize them, even when they are not our own families standbys.
julie-the whipped cream is just the correct amount over the top for me
Ivonne and Tanna. Thank you. I had somethought that the photo might be over-gooey, but then...
little bouffe-I forgot the pecans! You can do both, of course, especially on full sized cake. Cherry in center, pecans between slices. I think that's the classic configuration!
mzn: Yup. I like to say it too.
Vicki and Lynn-must convey the PBLT comcept to my vegetarian child. Peanut butter and smoked paprika would impart much of the baconyness. Very crisp lettuce would be in order? You are so clever. I'm not so sure I'd like it with the bacon on my BLT, though. I do, however, very much like the following open faced sandwich: rye toast, plum jam, & crisp bacon.

[Lynn D.]

Use a good brand of chunky PB to mimic the crunchiness of the bacon. Adams is a good, but perhaps only available in the Northwest.

[ms]

Hi, thanks for a great Pineapple upside down cake recipe, ive posted the results at my blog http://foodtravails.blogspot.com/. I liked living and eating :) in Pittsburgh, specially a small place called Carousel Lounge on the Monongahela.

thanks!