How to Bake Pineapple Upside Down Cakes for the Nutrition Banquet

(Written from a student’s perspective–a true composite account.)

Several weeks before the banquet: Do a trial run.

Note that bringing a mixer would have been a good thing.

Try using the mixer you find in a drawer in the kitchen. Give up when you find that the beater stems are too large to be inserted into the mixer. Go home and get a mixer. Mix. Observe the chunky, crumbly batter. Confer briefly with Mrs. I Decide to add the milk all at once (instead of alternately with the dry ingredients–since they’re already all in the bowl) and beat thoroughly. Rejoice that the batter gradually assumes a normal appearance.

Observe that going straight from the “measure dry ingredients and set aside” to “add the remaining ingredients . . . alternating . . . ” was not a good idea. Note to self: Next time, note carefully the mixer-at-high-speed--butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla part between the two above directions.

In the bottom of the baking pan put brown sugar glaze, pineapple slices, and a marchino cherry in the middle of the slices. Pour the batter over the top.

Bake as instructed. Rejoice when it comes out looking nice, except for some of the cherries almost having been completely submerged in the cake batter. Learn from this and decide that next time you’ll wait to position the cherries till after the cake is baked.

During the trial meal, note that it tastes very good. Decide that it would probably be better yet if it could be served warm.

Tuesday (the week of the banquet):

Have older sister bring shopping list of needed ingredients from home–on the flash drive, after downloading from a computer document, because Mrs. I needs the list. Upload the list onto a computer at school. Print it out. Give it to Mrs. I. Save a copy for yourself.

Wednesday:

All fourteen nutrition students and three drivers pile into vans and go shopping for ingredients. Carefully guard your envelope which contains $20.00 of grocery money. Do a quick count before you reach the checkout to see if you have enough money. Ask Mrs. I for more if you need it. If you forget the above step, and you don’t have enough money, frantically ask your classmate checking out at the next lane for five dollars from their envelope.

Buy one can of pineapple slices at Aldi for $.45, because that’s the only can they have left at this very special price, or at any price. Decide to have Kerri’s Mom get the other seven needed tomorrow at Aldi in Wichita–for the very special price. (She's going to Aldi in Wichita anyway.) In the meantime, various individuals will bring some from their supply at home so that the project can go on as planned on Thursday. Those who donate pineapple will be compensated after Kerri’s Mom gets hers from Wichita. Score one for frugality and cleverness.

Buy brown sugar and white sugar and butter at Aldi.

Go to Wal-Mart. Buy three jars of Marschino Cherries.

Ask Mrs. I to buy cake flour at Glenn’s Bulk Foods. She does so the next day.

Return your envelope to Mrs. I. Make sure it contains all the leftover money, and all the receipts.

Thursday

Early in the Day: Discover that Mrs. I forgot to bring the three cans of pineapple rings she was going to bring. Sigh with relief when she offers to ask Hiromi to bring them over. He is willing also to pick up the one that Kerri forgot.

Cancel the request for Hiromi to pick up Kerri’s pineapple. Elaine and Alicia will bring it. They’re bringing the forgotten mixer from Susanna’s house anyway, plus several cans of pineapple slices. When they bring these things they’ll also unload the cooking oil that several other students forgot to retrieve from Alicia’s vehicle after the shopping trip yesterday.

At class time: Ask permission to do the baking in the lab at school, because the kitchen is too full with 11 other students doing their part of the meal preparation project. Permission granted.

Discover that no one thought to bring salt or baking powder. Ask Mrs. I what to do. Call Janet (Kendra’s mom) and ask if you can borrow salt and baking powder. She says yes. Go pick it up.

Discover that no one brought vanilla. Ask Mrs. I if you can go home and get some. (Too embarrassing to ask Janet again.) Go home for vanilla.

Gird up your loins and forge ahead.

Add dry ingredients to creamed butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla–alternately with milk. Note the nice appearance of the batter and pour it into the pan. Discover afterward that the dry ingredients did not include the baking powder and salt . Ask Mrs. I if it would be OK to omit those two ingredients. Mrs. I says no. (You didn't think so either.) Make a suggestion, which Mrs. I agrees to. Scoop the cake batter off the nicely arranged pineapple slices and return it to the mixer bowl. Add the salt and baking powder, whip it into shape and pour it back into the pan. Observe to Mrs. I “Let’s just say this is not going too well.”

Carry out the above plan. The cake is now ready for the oven again, and Carolyn’s bread is occupying the upstairs oven, and no one has turned on the downstairs oven.

Preheat the downstairs oven. Wait for ten minutes. Bake the first cake. Let people drink the pineapple juice you drained from the eight cans of pineapple slices. Eat the remaining pineapple slices yourself. Work on washing up dishes.

After the cake is baked, let it set for ten minutes, then invert it onto one of Mrs. I’s fancy cake boards. Peel off the waxed paper you used to line the cake pan. Lament the fact that some of the glaze stubbornly adheres to the waxed paper instead of the cake. Watch while Mrs. I and others scrape off and eat the wonderful gooey brown sugar glaze that sticks to the waxed paper. Marvel and laugh.

Drain the Marschino cherries. Blot the red food coloring off the cherries with paper towels. Carefully place one cherry in the center of each pineapple ring. Push down on the cherry to seat it firmly into its nest.

Mix two more 12" x 18" cakes and bake them just like the first one–minus most of the glitches.

Go back to work in the learning center, until you remember something..

Ask Mrs. I if you can go to the kitchen. When she asks why, say “To push down the cherries.” When she asks why you need to push down the cherries, explain that they’re sticking up too far and you don’t want them to look like an “outie.”

Decide it doesn’t really matter if the cherries look like inflamed outies because the finished product is colorful, and your sampling from the edges tells you the cake tastes good.

When Kerri’s Mom brings the seven cans of pineapple rings, distribute them to all the people that brought theirs from home.

Friday

Try to figure out how to serve the cake warm. Decide to put the cakes into the oven after the twice-baked potatoes come out.

Cut the cake into uniform squares with the pineapple ring centered in the square.

When serving time comes, the potatoes are still in the oven to stay warm. Give up on serving warm cake.

Put one piece of cake on each china dessert plate. Serve it with aplomb.

Bask in the smiles and warm compliments. Smile back. Don’t go into detail about how it all happened.

P.S. from Miriam (added later): I wrote this story based entirely on what I observed, heard, or did. There were actually three students working together on the cake. In this story, I pretended it was only one person--thus the reference to a "composite" account. All the events really happened. The thoughts in response to those events? I guessed on those. I wasn't being coy about who was doing the writing--just slightly inept, I guess. Sorry.