GRANNY’S SKILLET PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

ANN PACK (Nashville, Tennessee) shares that her grandmother, GLADYS HIXON, was known to her grandchildren as Granny. She spent most of her life in Crossville, Tennessee. “Granny was a hard worker who loved the Lord and who also loved to cook! I will never forget her homemade biscuits and how quickly they disappeared. And, if we were lucky enough, she would make chocolate gravy to go with those biscuits. I also remember the hot chocolate she made in the winter . . . hot milk, shaved dark chocolate, sugar, and a dash of salt. So good! Making huge meals for her family was one of the many ways she showed her love. During holidays, the table would be so full of choices that there would barely be a place to sit. There would be two or three choices of meat, every side you could imagine, and several desserts. Granny loved having her family around, and good meals were a way to ensure that would happen,” Ann says.

¼ cup (½ stick) butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup chopped pecans

1 (15 ounce) can pineapple slices, undrained

3 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 to 8 maraschino cherries

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet. Add the brown sugar and pecans and stir well.

3 Drain the pineapple, reserving ¼ cup and 1 tablespoon pineapple juice. Arrange the pineapple rings in a single layer over the brown sugar mixture in the skillet.

4 Beat the egg yolks with a hand mixer at medium speed until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add the sugar, beating well.

5 In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the yolk mixture. Stir in the reserved pineapple juice.

6 Beat the egg whites at room temperature with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Next, fold the egg whites into the batter and stir. Spoon the batter evenly over the pineapple slices.

7 Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the skillet for 30 minutes. Gently loosen the edges and turn the cake out of the skillet onto a serving platter. Before serving, drain and place cherries in the center of each pineapple ring.

MAKES 8 SERVINGS.