Soul Sprout

Pineapple upside down cake

 

I decided to start with a dessert that says HOME - pineapple upside down cake.  I don't remember my grandmother making this recipe, but I do remember my mom making it.  I hadn't had it in years and it was everything I remembered.  Oh how I love the caramelized brown sugar, the sweet pineapple and the tender, melt-in-your-mouth cake. 

Here it is in the skillet, before you flip it over:

 

My grandmother wrote where she got a recipe on almost every recipe card.  This one is from her sister Eleanor.  Here is the card for this cake:

I do love to see my grandma's handwriting.  I like to think of her trying something at her sister's house and asking for the recipe or getting a taste for something and calling her sister and sitting down and writing it all out.  I picture her making the cake in her pristine kitchen full of gleaming formica and stainless steel.

While this recipe is sentimental for me, I will rewrite it with clearer instructions for you.  The one and only thing I have added is cherries. It's a classic touch, so it doesn't feel like sacrilege.  Maraschino cherries are the usual choice, but I opted for Trader Joe's Dark Morello Cherries.  They are not as red, but they taste like cherries.

Here are more detailed instructions:

If baking in the oven, preheat the oven to 350.

- 2 cups of flour, sifted and measured again - 2 tsp baking powder - 1/2 tsp salt - 1/2 cup shortening - 1 cup sugar - 2 eggs, separated - 1/2 cup milk - 2 Tbsp butter, melted - 1 cup brown sugar -1 can of sliced pineapple (20 oz.) - a few Morello or other cherries (optional)

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and the sugar.  Mix in the egg yolks until well combined.  Mix in about 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, then the flour, then the rest of the milk and finally the rest of the flour.  Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the batter. 

Swirl the melted butter in the bottom of a 10 inch cast iron skillet.  Spread the brown sugar over the butter.  Put the pineapple rings on top of the brown sugar.  You will not have enough space to use all of the pineapple rings.  Place the optional cherries in the middle of each pineapple ring and in the empty spaces between the rings around the edge.  Pour in the batter and smooth the top.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes in the oven or cook on the stove top for 30 minutes.  When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, let it cool for a bit.  Run a knife around the edge of the skillet to loosen it and then invert onto a platter.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Try to eat one piece.  I dare you!

 

 

My food heritage

This is my grandmother's recipe box.

She hasn't cooked for about 30 years.  When my late grandfather retired from Ford, he told my grandmother that she could retire too.  So they ate out, three meals a day, for the rest of his life.  As a child, I took this for granted, but as an adult, I realize how sweet and considerate this was.  My grandparents were far from rich and they ate mostly at small diners.  Oh what a gesture to budget for and change their lifestyle for her comfort and happiness.

As you can guess, my grandmother doesn't like to cook, but she did cook for her family for many years while raising three children.  And now I have the recipes she used.  Even though she doesn't delight in  cooking, she does enjoy eating.  I am loving the picture her recipes paint.  It is a portrait of a blue collar, middle class kitchen in the mid-twentieth century.  It also reveals my grandmother's sweet tooth.  (Now I know for sure where I get mine!)  There are many more recipes for sweets than for anything else.

I have read all the recipes and have decided to cook my way through them.  I know this is probably sounding a bit Julie and Julia, but it is quite different, I assure you.  There is nothing gourmet about these recipes.  They are not a work of culinary brilliance like Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  They are the recipes my grandmother liked enough to make again and again.  They are a piece of my personal history and the domestic history of America. 

I will be stepping outside my comfort zone a bit.  I like to cook from scratch and stopped using a lot of processed foods a long time ago, but I will break my own rules for this journey.  I will use Cool Whip and Dream Whip and instant pudding and lard.  I will include all of the original recipes, their sources when known, and any changes I make.   Some of the recipes are just lists of ingredients, so I will share the techniques I use to make them.

I am fascinated with all things vintage, especially from the 40's - the 60's, so I can't think of a more fitting project than to cook an entire recipe box from that era, from my own grandmother.  It's like opening a time capsule and diving right in.

Here's to Grammy!