Yesterday I perfected my pineapple upside down cornbread recipe. I made it for a meeting last night, which I then could not attend because I got so busy with work. I'm fasting this morning because I ate so much of it.
I forgot to take a photo before giving the rest away to my neighbor, so I'm recycling the pic I posted in this thread once before, when my first attempt failed.
The secret is to spread it out in a long pan, rather than using a square pan. The cornbread part has to be crispy and buttery to meet with the fruity gooey topping. Otherwise the top and bottom together taste incongruous. I used Krusteaz Honey cornbread mix, which is sweet, but I didn't follow the recipe on the box.
Preheat oven to 375
Drain the 20 oz. can pineapple rings, reserving half cup juice
Very, very thickly butter a 9 x 12 pan. You have to use softened butter, not melted. You want it to look like cake frosting all on the bottom and sides of the pan.
Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar all over the bottom of the pan. Pat the pineapple rings fairly dry and lay them evenly over the brown sugar. Place a cherry in the middle of each ring.
To the mix, add the half cup reserved juice, one egg and a 2 tsp. vanilla, mix it up.
Blob the batter over the pineapple. It's too thick to pour. Then gently spread it out.
I think I baked it 25 min, but check it at 20. It just needs to be browned over the top, and a toothpick comes out clean.
Here is the pic of the previous fail. Yesterday's success was more coherent, juicy on top, crispy on the bottom, buttery throughout.
Just editing to say something I think is important. The 9x12 pan I used was a sheet pan with sides, much shallower than a cake pan.
