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Entertaining my little boy again tonight, so time for another easy baking project he could help with. He loves pineapple and we had some a couple of days old, so time to do something with it. Recipe from The Joy of Cooking (I've always had good luck with the basics from there). Took about 20 minutes to prep and get in the oven, bake at 350F for a little over 35 minutes.Pineapple upside down cake 

This was made with fresh pineapple bought in chunks so no "disks" or circles (from the can) with cherry's in it.

Recipe:

• Drain and place one paper towel in 1 layer to absorb excess juice: 7 slices canned unsweetened pineapple (or equivalent fresh)
  
• Melt in a 9x2" circular cake pan: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter. Tilt to coat sides with butter.
  
• Sprinkle evenly over bottom of the pan: 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar 
  
• Place 1 pineapple ring in the center, and arrange 6 more around it, and place in the centers of the rings, and in between, 19 maraschino cherries, or pecan halves (or just fill with chunks, like I did)
  
• Whisk together in bowl: 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons buttermilk (I did not have any so I used just under 2 T of regular milk and a little lemon juice because some acidity is needed for the baking poweder to work), and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• Mix together in a mixing bowl: 1 cup all purpose flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt.
  
• Add to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until everything is just moistened: 6 tablespoons of unsalted, softened butter, 6 tablespoons of buttermilk (I again used regular milk, and this time some pineapple juice).
  
• Increase speed to high and mix for 1.5 minutes.
  
• In three steps, add 1/3 of the egg mixture, mix high speed for 20 seconds, and repeat until all incorporated.
  
• Scrape batter on top of pineapple, spread evenly and smoothen out. 
  
• Bake in 350F preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  
• Remove from oven and tilt to all sides to loosen cake from sides of pan. Let cool for a couple of minutes.
  
• Place serving plate on top of cake pan, upside down, and using oven mitts hold the combination and flip over and remove cake pan.
  
• Let cool a little more and serve! 
  

I've never tried doing a blog before, but just had to share last weekend's ragingly successful experiment. Sourdough has been going not-so-well lately, so I've returned to commercial yeast for a bit. This is a somewhat altered version of my mother-in-law's recipe.

Orange Sticky Rolls

Sweet Dough:

1 Cup lukewarm milk (for non-dairy, I use 1/3 c each of coconut, soy, and rice milks)

3 Tbsp honey

1 tsp salt

1 tsp instant yeast

1/4 Cup water (the original recipe called for active dry yeast dissolved in water; instant doesn't need dissolving, but the dough needs the liquid)

1 egg

1/4 Cup shortening (coconut oil)

4 cups flour (I used 3 cups KA AP and 1 cup spelt, worked great)

Mix all ingredients together until smooth, let sit for 20 minutes, then do several french folds. It's a fairly sticky dough, but tightens up quickly.

Let rise for 2 1/2 hours, folding three times, every 30 - 45 minutes. The original recipe calls for 2 bulk rises, punching down in between, but folding made it so much lighter.

While the dough rises, make the orange glaze;

Juice and zest of 1 - 2 oranges, and 1 lemon (about 3/4 cup juice)

1 1/4 cups sugar

Cook juice, zest, and sugar together over low heat in a heavy saucepan until thickened, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Let cool to room temperature. I had to stick it in the fridge to cool it down a bit.

When the dough is ready, roll out into a 9"x18" oblong. Spread with about 4 Tbsp of the filling (don't use too much! It's not like cinnamon rolls, any extra will goosh out and make it impossible to seal the roll), then roll tightly along the long edge, and pinch the edges together.

Grease a 9"x13" pan (actually, next time I'm going to use something bigger, or two pans. I think 9"x13" is a little small, the rolls were a little too closely squeezed in there for my taste). Spread the rest of the glaze in the bottom of the pan.

Slice the roll into 1" pieces, then place loosely in the pan. Cover and let rise until not quite doubled (20 - 30 minutes).

Bake 25 - 30 minutes at 375 F. When done, invert pan over cooky sheet.

They're pretty decadent, but make a nice change from decadent cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!

edh