Cheerful Monday Upside Down Pineapple Cake

The Upside Down Pineapple Cake is the perfect way to cheer up a cold grey winter’s day. It will bring you that summer warmth you are longing for, on a plate and keep you smiling mouthful after mouthful (if you are good) all week.

I find that starting the week off baking is generally motivating and good for the soul! It took me a while to realise what it was that had made me look forward to Mondays. The observation however came at some point after I decided to systematically start baking. Since then Mondays all held the promise of a fresh start and new opportunities for me and there is no better way to feel at the start of the week.

I admit I am a half full glass kinda gal any day of the week, so it may be easier for me to get my head around this, but the truth is most of us relish the idea of something new. We find it exciting and uplifting. It gives us purpose and hope. A pineapple cake is perfectly suited for this type of mental state. It takes about 20 minutes to prepare (ie when you are having breakfast) and 30 minutes to bake (ie when you are having you shower and getting dressed for the day).
So you can squeeze it into even the tightest routine (providing of course you are not the type that heads out to work ten mins after they wake up, with wet hair, a tooth brush in the mouth and a cup of coffee sloshing all over their handbag... if this is you, you need to stop and take stock and wake up thirty minutes earlier). In the time it takes for the average person to get ready to start the week ahead they can create a delicious wonder and be thinking: I am a domestic god/goddess and the world is my oyster!

You see the thing about baking is that not only are you creating something delicious, that you can enjoy later on in the day or week. You are also creating a delicious smells and they are incredibly empowering! Research carried out on scent (smell) has shown that the link of scents with our memory can have an enormous effect on our behaviour. Indeed the science behind the scent has been used by marketeers to increase sales in department stores for decades. By introducing baked good counters and coffee areas near clothing the sweet smells of cinnamon rolls and pastry were encouraging customers to feel more reassured about their choices and spending. Airlines often use perfumed air to reduce anxiety and casinos in the same vein have found that adding certain smells to the air systems can encourage more gambling. Likewise a good bake first thing in the morning gets everyone in a good mood. Most likely it is triggered from a happy memory of cake, so chances are you will be starting the week on the same high as a celebration requiring cake. Who can argue with that?! ;-)

If you want to try my start to the week cake here is a tried and tested recipe for you!

Ingredients
1 large tin of pineapple rings in pineapple juice.
1 packet (250gr) of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon of cinnamon
4 tablespoons of sugar
5 eggs at room temperature with separated yolks
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of flower
1 teaspoon of baking powder

Method
In a round 28cm tin melt the butter, spoons of sugar and Cinnamon.
Place in the butter the pineapple rings (as shown below) saving the juice for later.

Beat the egg whites until they form white peaks. Add the yolks, followed by the sugar, the flour and the baking powder. Mix well.
Pour the mixture over the laid out pineapple and bake in a preheated oven at 180deg C for thirty minutes or more until the cake is ready.
Remove from the oven and let it cool down a little.
Create small holes across the baked sponge using a toothpick.
Pour the pineapple juice over the baked sponge. Once it is absorbed flip the cake into a plate and ENJOY!