Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Steps

1. Caramelize4 min
   in the skillet, butter and brown sugar
   • butter
   • brown sugar
   • sugar
   1/4 cup butter melted with the brown sugar directly in the cast iron until it bubbles into one dark syrup — this layer becomes the top of the cake; making it in the baking vessel means zero transfer and full coverage into the corners
2. Prep4 min
   rings on the caramel, cherries in the holes
   • pineapple
   • maraschino cherries
   pineapple rings pressed into the hot caramel — one center, six around — a cherry in every hole, cut-side up so they show their color at the flip; this arrangement IS the finished cake's face, so a moment of care here is the only decorating this dessert ever needs
3. Mix6 min
   cream, then eggs, then alternate flour and juice
   • flour
   • baking powder
   • eggs
   remaining butter + sugar creamed fluffy, eggs one at a time + vanilla, then flour + baking powder + salt alternating with the reserved pineapple juice — the can's juice in the crumb is the move the four backlog variants all shared: it doubles the pineapple without wetting the batter
4. Bake45 min
   350°F, batter spread gently over the fruit, tester clean
   the batter dolloped and smoothed over the rings without disturbing them, baked until golden and springing back — the caramel boils up the sides a little, which is correct and smells like a state fair
5. Rest10 min
   EXACTLY — then flipped
   ten minutes in the pan, no more, no less, then a plate over the skillet and one committed flip — sooner and the caramel is lava and the cake shears; later and the caramel sets into glue and half the rings stay behind. Ten minutes, one motion, and any ring that does stick gets peeled off and pressed back where it belongs, a repair as traditional as the cake