Mom's Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

This is a three-skillet operation, and that’s not overkill.

Splitting the batter between three cast-iron pans means each cake is thinner, which gives you a better ratio of sticky caramel topping to tender crumb. The topping itself is serious business: butter, brown sugar, water, and Karo corn syrup boiled hard for three minutes until it turns into a thick, amber caramel that gets divided between the skillets.

The batter starts with creamed butter and confectioner’s sugar, which gives it a finer texture than granulated sugar would. Separated eggs go in at two stages: yolks into the batter for richness, whites beaten stiff and folded in at the end for lift.

Buttermilk spiked with the reserved pineapple juice adds tang and moisture. The baking soda reacts with that acid to create a light, airy crumb that soaks up the caramel without going soggy.

Pineapple rings, cherries in the centers, and pecan halves if you like them. Flip the skillets while still warm and that caramel cascades down the sides.

Pro Tips

• Use cast-iron skillets, not glass or ceramic. Cast iron holds heat evenly and gives the caramel better color.
• Prepare the brown paper rounds for the pan bottoms. They make flipping infinitely easier. Grease them well with shortening.
• Flip the cakes while warm, not hot. Give them about 5 minutes out of the oven. Too hot and the caramel runs everywhere; too cool and it sticks to the pan.

Variations

• Use fresh pineapple slices for a less sweet, more tropical flavor.
• Swap pecans for toasted coconut flakes for a pina colada-inspired version.
• Replace Karo with maple syrup for a deeper, more autumnal caramel.