Pineapple upside down cake

Sous Chef J has been wanting to try making a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for ages.  Last week I bought a couple of fresh pineapples (one medium and the other HUGE sized).  So, when they had ripened and we were looking for inspiration on a chilly afternoon, he suggested the cake.  We searched for a suitable recipe to follow and came up with this slightly tweaked amalgam recipe -

For the topping -

50g softened butter
50g soft brown sugar
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced (we reserved the juice from this undertaking for later use) - if you don't have fresh, then tinned pineapple rings in juice will be fine.

For the cake -
100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour (we used Dove's Farm gluten free SR Flour)
1 tsp baking powder (we used Dr Oetker gluten free)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

We set the oven to 160C fan and prepared the topping.  To do this, we beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. The topping mix was then spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 21cm round spring-form cake tin. 

The pineapple was prepared using an Oxo Good Grips pineapple
device... it was a two person job but we were pleased it worked well.  Next, Sous Chef J arranged 4 pineapple rings on top of the butter/sugar mix. 

Placing the butter and sugar in a bowl, we used an electric hand mixer to cream them together.  The eggs were add, one at a time, before including the flour and baking powder.  The mix came together nicely and looked creamy and light in colour.  We then mixed through about 2 Tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice and made sure it was fully combined to a soft consistency. 

The cake mix was put into the tin on top of the pineapple and smoothed. 

We baked the cake, having placed the tin on a baking sheet (as the springform tin leaked - use a tin without a loose bottom if you have one!  We learnt from this for subsequent bakes) for 35 mins. 

Having left the cake to cool for 10 minutes, it was turned out onto a platter.

Sous Chef J has developed a liking for helping with "cook's reward" activities and is keen to assist with "checking the mix tastes OK".

We have also repeated this recipe making a square traybake cake (pics show both baking sessions) and Sous Chef J's "Singular Pineapple Upside Down Tarts" ....they were fab and are the header pic.

Pineapple Ketchup & Sweet Potato Wedges

We spotted a recipe for Pineapple Ketchup (to go with sweet potato wedges) in the Waitrose Spring 2015 leaflet (the same one this Lemon & Pistachio Cake was in) and thought it would be a nice idea to give it a try.  Of course, we decided not to make the amount the recipe is for but, as it was a trial, we'd make half.

For the amount of ketchup we wanted to make, we needed -

1 tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, finely sliced (we used frozen, chopped shallots - about 4 Tablespoons)

3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 all spice berries
2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 small pineapple, peeled, core removed, flesh chopped
100ml cider vinegar
100ml pineapple juice
Lime juice (we used 45ml ready squeezed juice)
100g brown sugar
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste

Putting the olive oil in a saucepan, we heated it through and added the chopped, frozen shallots.  These were then cooked on a low heat for a couple of minutes (to de-frost them) then the heat was increased and they were cooked until they started to soften (about 5 minutes).

Adding the ginger, spices and garlic to the shallots, they were cooked for another 5 minutes.

Stirring in the pineapple, vinegar, juices, sugar and tomato paste, the heat was increased until the ingredients started to simmer.  We then reduced the heat and cooked for another 25-30 minutes when there was less moisture and the pineapple was starting to break down.

We turned off the heat and waited for about half an hour for the mix to cool when we used a stick blender to purée the ketchup.  Up to this point we felt it was pretty much like making a chutney.

The next step was to pour the ketchup into a sieve (placed over a bowl), using a spoon to push it through.

Finally the ketchup was 'bottled' in sterilised jam jars.  Not a huge amount but enough for a first try.

The Waitrose recipe says the ketchup can be kept for 3 months but, having tasted it, we don't think ours will last this long!

On another day, we got round to making the sweet potato wedges.  It was simple and the pictures below show this... 

Gather sweet potatoes and scrub them

Cut into wedges, toss in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mix through 1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika (we used a little more than this)

Spread in a single layer onto a baking sheet (ours was preheated) and bake at 200C for 25-30 mins (depends on wedge size). 

Remove from oven

Sprinkle with chopped, fresh rosemary

The cooked wedges were then served with the previously made pineapple ketchup.  The dish was declared "lovely" by Sous Chef J.  The next batch of wedges and ketchup we make will both be larger!