Skillet Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Telling this will be showing my age, but this is the first cake I remember my mother making. We didn’t have cake pans, so she made this in a cast-iron skillet.

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 (20-ounce) can pineapple slices, drained

Maraschino cherries (optional)

3 large eggs, separated

1 ½ cups sugar, divided

1 ½ cups cake flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet melt the butter over low heat. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter and remove from the heat. Arrange the pineapple slices in a single layer over the brown sugar mixture. Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each of the pineapple rings, if desired. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat the egg yolks with a mixer on medium speed until thick, about 5 minutes. Gradually add ½ cup of the sugar, beating well. In a medium bowl combine the flour, the remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture and the boiling water to the egg mixture, alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the whites into the batter. Spoon the batter evenly over the pineapple slices.

Bake for 45 minutes. Immediately invert cake onto a serving plate.

Makes 10 servings.