Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Grandma Approved

It's been a while since I hosted a little Home Tour Tuesday.  I'm sure it's absence hasn't been missed, but it will be a bit longer since I can post one again.  You see, we decided to have a bathroom built upstairs back in April.  That bathroom turned into bathroom AND bar/entertainment center.  We have one huge room upstairs with TONS of attic space and we plan on eventually adding a bedroom at some point as well.  Okay, so that was April.  

That same month we found a major problem in our master bath.  Like NO shower pan in the shower kind of problem.  The guys building the bathroom did some investigating for us and found huge leaks under the shower and we were close to termites starting to take residence in our bathroom.  Yikes.  An insurance adjuster came out and we decided that we would just remodel the whole bathroom.  It was on our list of "future to-do's" so we decided to get a head start on it since our shower and tub would have to be taken out and the groundwork and plumbing would have to be repaired.  They started on that in May.  MAY.

The estimated date of completion on that project was early June.  Uh....it's almost the end of August and we STILL have no shower or tub in our master bath.  No lights.  Shoddy tiling.  No faucets.  Uneven grout.  The list goes on.  Did I mention our contractor took our money and never came back??  Yeah. So, there's that.

We were hopeful.  He still hadn't finished some of the painting and electric upstairs.  All of his tools were left behind.  As well as his work truck.  So we were hopeful he'd finish because he'd have to come back and claim his belongings.  Multiple attempts at calling and texting...lots of calls avoided...and 2 months later, here we are. No bathroom.  However, we do have a new contractor and it looks like we'll have our bathroom back by September!!  YAY!!!  

I'm not angry or upset.  There's no use holding grudges.  I don't even want him to get the "what goes around comes around" he has coming to him.  I honestly just wanted to move on.   I'd just really like to shower in my room and start putting everything away.  The contents of our bathroom have been residing on our bedroom floor since May and I'm ready to have that space back. 
 #firstworldproblems
All that to be said, here's what we have so far....





I'll be so excited when it's finished!!!  Is there such a thing as a bathroom warming party?  Because I want to throw one when it's all said and done.  

If I really let it, thinking about it could make me pretty sour, so let's talk about something sweet.  
Like cake.  Who doesn't love cake?!  Well...my sister.  Not a fan.  I'm not sure we're actually related.  But I digress. ;)

I always love a delectable dessert and pineapple upside down cake is one of my favorites.  Reminds me of my grandma who...in my opinion...makes the best.  This recipe isn't grandma's, but it did meet her approval so I'm considering this a winner!!!  

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1/2 C. butter (unsalted)
3/4 C. light brown sugar (packed)
1 (20 oz.) can of pineapple slices
Maraschino cherries
1 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 C. buttermilk
1/3 C. sour cream
3 TBSP. canola OR vegetable oil
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Just in case you need to SEE the ingredients...



Now go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 and start prepping your ingredients while the oven heats up.

Melt the butter and pour evenly into a 9-in springform cake pan.  You can use the melted butter to grease the sides of the cake pan as well.



Now sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter....



Bring out those pineapple slices and place an entire one in the center of the pan.  Cut the other slices in half and place them around the whole slice going all the way around the pan.  Make sure to place some of the halved slices around the edge of the pan as well.  Then place one maraschino cherry in the center of the whole pineapple and in between the halved slices as well.



After your pan is prepped and ready to go, combine the flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl with a whisk and set aside. 

You'll need to dirty another bowl, but make it a small one. Add to it the egg, buttermilk, sour cream, oil, and vanilla and whisk to combine.  Then pour this mixture into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.  Lightly mix to combine making sure not to overmix.  There will be some small lumps in the batter and that's A-OK!

Gently pour the batter into your prepared springform pan and make sure not to overfill.  

Place the pan on top of a cookie sheet (with edges) to catch anything that might spill over.  Bake at 350 for about 40ish minutes.

Remove when the cake is baked through and place on a wire rack and let cool for about 30 minutes before inverting.  I gave mine a couple of hours before inverting...of course, I did that mostly because I forgot about it, but it transferred beautifully.  #fortunateaccident


This version of my grandma's tried and true recipe is sinfully delectable.  I don't like the word "moist" {{{shudder}}}, but that's the only description that comes to mind at the moment.  It's all that and then some.  Melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  And it makes an absolutely satisfying breakfast paired with a strong cup of coffee :) This recipe is definitely a keeper!!  Grandma approved so you can't go wrong :)  

4 comments:

  1. I've never made pineapple upside down cake. I'll have to try this soon! I usually don't like warm fruit, but this sounds really good.

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  2. What!? He left his work truck and tools...what kind of work, if any, can you do without that! So sorry. I would definitely celebrate with cake once it's done!

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  3. This is one of my favorite cakes. My MIL used to bake hers in a large skillet. It was delicious. I miss her and her cakes!

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  4. My mouth is hanging open after reading about your thief. =(

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