Sanjeev Kapoor's Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe

Machine-cut pineapples drenched in sugar syrup, how pretty and perfect! I used these babies in a pretty nice pineapple upside down cake recipe. I often end up baking with chocolate whenever I do bake and when I was asked to bring dessert for a potluck a few weeks back, I resolved not to let chocolate anywhere near the dish.

I had just received Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes and Bakes, so decided to flip through it. I have to admit at this point that the first time I baked this cake, it didn't turn out well. I under-estimated the bake time, and when I turned the cake upside down, it was still squiggly in the middle. That turned into something of a disaster but I salvaged it and called it pudding in a way that would have made my mom proud. 

This recipe is slightly fansy-pansy. It calls for demerara sugar. I bought it just for this purpose, just so that I won't screw up a second time.

Sidenote: Is demarara sugar available in India? If you know if a place, do leave a comment. Thanks!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Makes one 9" cake
Adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's Cakes and Bakes
(Amazon | FlipKart)

Ingredients:
1 cup regular all purpose flour or maida
8 slices canned pineapple, drained
150gm / 3/4 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup demerara sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup milk (low fat works too)

How I Made It:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C / 275 F

2. Mix 1/4 cup butter with the demerara sugar and spread it at the bottom of a greased 9" cake pan.



3. Arrange a layer of pineapple slices over it, slicing them to adjust and fill the gaps.



4. Sift the flour and baking powder. Keep aside.

5. Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and add in the rest of the butter (1/2 cup) and the vanilla essence. Combine until smooth.

6. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Don't overdo this otherwise the egg whites will turn dry.



7. Fold in the sifted sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then fold in the egg yolk mixture.



8. And finally the flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Be gentle and only mix until the flour disappears into the batter. Don't over-mix.



9. Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and bake for about 30-40 mins.



10. Make sure that you test the cake and not go by time because the first time I did that, I ended up under-baking the cake by about 10 mins or so. This one below is done perfectly!



The butter-sugar mixture will caramelize and come up a bit at the sides. Its yum!



Unfortunately, I don't have a great final picture of the finished cake. I had to pack this in foil and take it for a party so no pics of slices.



Its definitely tasty but I am not satisfied with it. I think pineapple, butter, sugar and flour can make something better - so the search is still on. Leave a comment if you have a great pineapple upside down cake recipe on your site!

Lamb Qorma Curry

Ingredients:

• 750 gm : Lamb
• 2 tsp : Chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp :Turmeric powder
• 5 cloves : Garlic
• 1 tsp : Ginger paste
• 4 whole : Cardamom seeds
• 4 tbsp : Yogurt
• 1 large : Onion (chopped)
• 1 tsp: Salt
• 1 tsp: Garam masala
• Oil : as per taste
• 1 tsp : Kewra essence

Directions:

Fry onion in oil until it becomes golden brown. Take onion out and blend it with yogurt in the blender. Add ginger and garlic paste in the same oil. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder into it. Further add into it the mixture which is in the blender. Stir it for sometime and add lamb and cardamom seeds into it. Stir it continously until you see oil at the edges of the pan. Pour some water into it and cover it on a low flame until the lamb is tender. Put the Kewra essence into it. Switch off the stove once the density of the Qorma gravy is of your taste. Sprinkle garam masala on it at the end.

Potatoes, Vegetable and Chicken Patties (cutlus)

Ingredients:

• 2 large pieces : Chicken breast (boiled and mashed)
• 5 large : Potatoes (boiled and mashed)
• 1 large : Capsicum (cut in very small cubes)
• 5 medium : Green chillies (finely chopped)
• 2 large : Carrots (cut in very small cubes)
• 5 tbsp : Cabbage (finely chopped)
• Half tsp : Black pepper
• 1 tsp : Salt
• 2 tbsp : Plain flour
• Half cup : Milk
• 2 tbsp : Oil

Directions:

Fry green chillies in the oil. Add carrots, capsicum and cabbage into it and sauté it little bit. Add plain flour (diluted in 1/4 cup of water) into it and stir everything. Add mashed potatoes, mashed chicken, salt and black pepper.

Stir it continuously by adding milk into it and stop adding milk when you have a good consistency of the mixture i.e. it is not very thin nor too sticky. (It's not necessary to add whole half cup of milk, if the mixture seems of right consistency/density).

Switch off the stove. Let the mixture to cool for some time. After that wet your hands with water, make a small ball, make a shape of it as you like (round, oval etc). Dip it into the egg and fry it in a non-stick pan using small amount of oil.

Cup Pizzas

Ingredients for Cup Pizza Base:

• 175 gm : Plain flour
• 1 tsp : Salt
• 2 tsp : Dried yeast
• 2 tbsp : Olive oil
• 200 ml : Luke warm water
• 11/2 tsp : Sugar

Directions for Cup Pizza Base:

Add yeast and sugar in luke warm water. Leave it for 5 minutes. Sieve the flour and add salt, olive oil into it. Kneed it by adding yeast mixture into it. Set aside for 30 minutes. Kneed it again and cover it with damp cloth for 2 hours.

Ingredients for Cup Pizza Sauce:

• 2 tbsp : Olive oil
• 1 tsp : Salt
• 3 clove : Garlic
• 2 medium : Capsicum
• 2 large : Tomatoes (peeled)
• 16oz : Tomato puree
• 1 tsp : Whole basil
• 1 tsp : Whole oregano
• 1 pinch : Chilli powder 
• Half tsp : Black pepper (as per taste)

Directions For Cup Pizza Sauce:

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add capsicum, tomatoes, tomato puree, chilli powder, black pepper and salt into it. Cook it on a low flame for 15 minutes. Add oregano and basil into it and cook it for another 15 minutes on a low flame. Make sure the tomatoes and capsicum is mashed up. The consistency of sauce should be right. It should not be  too watery or too thick.

Note: You can make tomato puree at home. Peel the tomatoes and put them into the blender.




Ingredients For Cup Pizza Topping:

• 1 large : Onion (sliced)
• 1 large : Capsicum (sliced)
• 1 tbsp : Olive oil
• 1 fresh : Tomato (sliced)
• 5 medium : Olives
• 2 large pieces : Chicken breast
• 1 : Green chilli
• 300 gm : Mild cheese
• 2 tbsp : Sweet corns
• 1 1/2 tsp : Salt
• Black pepper (as per taste)

Directions For Cup Pizza Topping:

Add oil in a pan.Cut the chicken breasts into very small pieces and put them in the oil. Fry it for 5 to 10 minutes. Add capsicum and onions into it. Add sweet corn into it and fry for few more minutes. Then add green chilli, salt, black pepper.

  
To bake these Cup Pizzas, follow the following steps:-

1. Take a nonstick baking tray which we normally use for making muffins or cup cakes.
2. Take a small amount of pizza dough and put it into one cup of nonstick tray. Stretch it with hands to the sides and push it towards the centre of the cup so that a pocket is created in the centre of the cup.
3. Fill all the cups of the nonstick tray in the same way with pizza dough.
4. Layer it with pizza sauce.
5. Layer it with pizza topping.
6. Sprinkle cheese onto it.
7. Bake it in the oven at 250 degree centigrade for 10 to 20 minutes.