Field Day 2015 (Hot Milk Sponge Cake)

Mom’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I was foolish enough to volunteer this year to cook dinner for our club’s Amateur Radio Field Day. Not really a daunting task – hamburgers, hot dogs, rolls, chips and the other usual stuff. Beans, German potato salad, and tossed salad are being done by my elves, so I just concentrate on the big stuff. But dessert. What would be good for dessert? Ah, yes! Peg’s Mom used to make us Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Without the pineapple, it stands on its own as an excellent Sponge Cake.

Herewith her recipe:

  • 4 eggs
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 2 c. flour
  • 2 tsp. Baking powder
  • 1 c. hot milk
  • 1/8 tsp. Butter
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  1. Beat eggs until light and fluffy, approx. 5 minutes.
  2. Add sugar and beat again until light and fluffy.
  3. Mix flour and baking powder together in a separate bowl and set aside.
  4. Heat milk and butter in small pan over medium-high heat until milk just starts to boil.
  5. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
  6. Add dry ingredients and liquid alternately until all are incorporated in the batter.
  7. Add vanilla and stir well.
  8. Bake in greased floured 13×9 pan at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

The Pineapple Upside-down Part –

  • 1/2 C butter
  • 1/2 C brown sugar, light or dark
  • 1 – 20oz can sliced pineapple
  • Maraschino cherries
  1. Instead of greasing and flouring the baking pan, melt the butter in the pan
  2. mix in brown sugar, stirring well
  3. Drain a big can of pineapple slices and lay the pineapple rings on the brown sugar mixture.
  4. If you’re being really cool, put maraschino cherries inside the pineapple rings. Very pretty!!
  5. Pour the batter gently into the pan and bake as directed above.
  6. Cool the baked cake for about 5 minutes or so and shake the pan around to loosen the cake.
  7. Invert it onto a serving platter and you get a really decent looking cake.

(Peg’s note)

This was my grandmother’s recipe. The amount of butter in the cake was originally passed down as whatever “fits on the tip of a knife”

(John’s note)

I made this in a 14×10 pan. The 13×9 died years ago (Peg had it before we were married…)

And I let the milk boil by inattentiveness – it came out OK nonetheless.

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