Pineapple Belongs on Everything

I happen to be a lover of all things pineapple. I am not a pizza purist who has no time for a slice of Hawaiian pizza. In fact, it's one of my favorites, and I refuse to let anyone judge me for trying to put fruit on pizza (side note--dessert fruit pizzas are amazing, and I need to make one soon). Even though I adore the tangy sweetness of pineapple, before last weekend, I had never made a pineapple upside down cake. I don't even think I had eaten a slice of one in at least fifteen years. Back then, my taste buds cared less about pineapple and more about McDonald's and Coke Icee's. Well, they still do, but thankfully, they've also branched out and make me try daring things on occasion. Not that I'd consider pineapple daring, but you're talking to a woman who didn't eat avocados until two years ago. I'm maturing, y'all.

And it tastes way more delicious than I ever figured it would.

Best part about that ooey-gooey, pineapple-y goodness pictured above? I adapted it from a Truvia recipe--so eating it is a transcendentally guilt-free, delicious moment. At a mere 214 calories a slice (8 slices total), you can even add what some might call a "ridiculous" amount of Cool Whip Free on top just to take it that extra mile for few extra calories. I had it with or without, and while I preferred my slice with Cool Whip Free (I have an obsession), this was a damn good cake either way. Something magical happens when butter and brown sugar come together in an oven to form glazed goodness, and I love any recipe that tastes best fresh out of the oven with zero wait time from pan to plate to mouth.

Truvia should just sponsor my blog at this point.

I promise you that this is in no way difficult to make from scratch. I think this maybe took all of ten minutes to throw together, but last weekend was a blur of sadness thanks to my ever-waffling, normally soul-crushing Minnesota Vikings. I will say this cake and the support of my Eagle's-loving husband (seriously, he didn't gloat once) somehow managed to pull me out of the depressing abyss that comes with our annual playoff shortcomings. Crushed hopes and dreams aside, a day in sweats and a slice of pineapple upside down cake had me just right again (with my usual dash of sass and sarcasm). To make, gather:

• 3 TBS butter
• 1/3 cup Truvia Brown Sugar Blend
• 7 fresh pineapple slices, drained
• 7 maraschino cherries, drained, without stems
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or you can use oil, but this will up the calorie content a lot)
• 1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/3 cups flour
  Optional: Cool Whip Free for topping

Start by preheating your oven to 350 and placing the 3 TBS butter into an 8" pan. Throw this into the oven so the butter gets nice and melty, like it's on a fresh stack of pancakes. Mmm, pancakes. I bet pancakes with pineapple would be amazing. Sorry, I'm easily distracted by the endless taste possibilities pineapple can provide.

Mmmm buttery brown sugar.

While your butter is melting, drain and set aside 7 slices of pineapple, 7 cherries without stems, and then dump the applesauce, Truvia Baking Blend, milk, vanilla, and egg into a stand mixer bowl. Give a blend on low for about 30 seconds, then dump in the flour, salt, and baking powder in and blend for 2 minutes on medium-high. While this is blending, pull your pan out of the oven and swirl the butter around so it evenly coats the bottom of the entire pan. Then take the Truvia Brown Sugar Blend and sprinkle on top of the butter. I used a rubber spatula to press the sugar down and ensure it mixed with the butter.

Who lives in a pineapple under a cake? Not Spongebob Squarepants, that's for sure.

Your pan will still be hot at this point, so carefully lay out the 7 slices of pineapple. There will be some overlap, but they shrink as they bake, so it'll look fine, I promise. Place a cherry on top (which is actually the bottom--mind, blown) of each pineapple slice's center.

Oh yes, look at that naughty butter, seeping all over the place and breaking the rules in the tastiest way possible.

Gently pour your cake batter on top of the pineapple and cherries, and bake on the middle rack of your oven at 350 for 35 minutes. A toothpick should come out cleanly from the cake when fully cooked.

I literally have the perfect plates for upside down cake.

The moment you remove your cake from the oven, place a large plate on top of your cake pan. Carefully (definitely wear oven mitts or pay the price) invert plate and pan so plate is on the bottom and pan is on the top. Let the cake set in the pan as the buttery glaze distributes itself evenly over the top of the cake. Thankfully, this is a short period of time, perhaps 5 minutes in total.

Worth it. Look at that distribution, baby.

You should be able to slowly but very easily remove the pan from the cake without fear of ruining your cake. Butter is a magical thing, people. Pineapple upside down cake is amazing straight from the oven, and you can definitely slice into this and serve it while warm--in fact, I recommend it.

But don't forget the Cool Whip Free.

In my haste/football shame spiral, I didn't serve our first round of pineapple upside down cake with any, but it was still definitely yummy enough to give me a reason to go on and keep living despite the game results. Behold, the power of cake.

But you better believe I didn't forget it any other time.

I kept this cake in a cake safe in the fridge, reheating our slices for about 30 seconds a pop before topping with Cool Whip. It is a nice and dense cake layer bottom with the perfect amount of sweetness; not too overwhelming since the pineapples and cherries do a nice job of providing plenty of sweetness on their own. The additional sweetness from the Cool Whip Free was the perfect finishing touch. Speaking of finishes, we inhaled this cake, and I miss it terribly. I can relate to a cake that isn't right side up because when you're as clumsy as I am, upside down is a natural resting state. It's nice to know when you've got two left feet and raging seasonal football depression that pineapple has the power to make everything seem right in the world. Now tell me again why people don't like it on pizza? Because unless you're a Patriots fan, I can guarantee on any given Sunday, you're gonna need something to cheer you up. 'Til next time, my fellow eaters!

I mean, I might have to make another one of these just to survive watching the Super Bowl take place in our home stadium without us. The commercials this year better be frickin' hilarious.