Jamie Davies and her late husband, Jack, were pioneers in the California wine industry. In 1965 they purchased and restored Schramsberg, a vineyard estate established in 1862, and they soon began producing the first American sparkling wine. When Davies thinks about comforting desserts, she remembers her childhood in Pasadena. "I was about eight when I started making upside-down cakes with my older sister, Dallas. We’d come home after school and mix up the recipe; I loved the sensual pleasure of making the batter. We'd put the cake in the oven, then go play croquet with our friends. Then we’d all come in and eat it up. We thought we had died and gone to heaven."
The easy upside-downer here has wonderful spice flavors. Using canned pineapple chunks keeps the preparation simple.
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
Topping
Cake
Preparation
For topping:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 1/4 cup butter in 10-inch-diameter cast-iron skillet or other heavy ovenproof skillet (preferably nonstick) over medium heat. Add 2/3 cup brown sugar and stir until mixture begins to form thick mass, about 4 minutes. Continue cooking, without stirring, until butter mixture spreads and covers bottom of skillet and bubbles appear all over surface, about 6 minutes longer. Remove skillet from heat. Arrange pineapple chunks close together in concentric circles atop sugar mixture in skillet.
For cake:
Step 2
Sift first 8 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat molasses, golden brown sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add half of dry ingredients, then whole milk, then remaining half of dry ingredients, beating until well blended after each addition. Beat in crystallized ginger. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet.
Step 3
Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cake in skillet 5 minutes. Run small knife around sides of skillet to loosen cake. Place platter over cake in skillet; invert cake onto platter. Cool cake at least 1 hour. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.
