Light Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

📝 Ingredients

• 1 tin pineapple rings in juice (340 g drained, juice reserved)
• 40 g light brown sugar
• 45 g unsalted butter (15 g for the tin, 30 g for the batter)
• 3 eggs + 100 g caster sugar
• 2 pots plain yoghurt (125 g each)
• 180 g plain wheat flour
• 1 sachet baking powder (11 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

🍴 Utensils

• 24 cm round cake tin
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Serving platter
• Oven gloves

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (170 °C fan). Drain the pineapple over a bowl to catch the juice, then pat the rings dry on kitchen paper: if they're too wet, they'll make the cake soggy.
2. Generously grease the base and sides of the tin with 15 g softened butter. Use a tin without a removable base, or the caramel will leak into the oven. Sprinkle the brown sugar in an even layer over the base.
3. Lay the pineapple rings flat on the brown sugar, one in the centre and the others in a ring around it, packed tightly. If you have any left over, cut them into pieces to fill the gaps between the rings.
4. Melt the remaining 30 g butter and leave to cool slightly. In the mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes, until pale and frothy. Add the yoghurt, 4 tbsp of the reserved pineapple juice, the vanilla and the melted butter, then mix.
5. Mix the flour and baking powder, then fold them in with the spatula in two batches, without overworking the batter: stop as soon as no traces of flour remain. Overbeaten batter makes a dense cake.
6. Gently pour the batter over the pineapple, starting from the centre, then smooth with the spatula. Bake for 35 minutes in the middle of the oven, until the top is golden and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
7. Leave the cake to rest in its tin for 10 minutes: when hot, the caramel is too runny; when cold, it sticks to the tin. Then run a knife blade all the way around to loosen the edges.
8. Place the serving plate upside down on the tin, then flip the whole thing over in one confident movement, holding both with oven gloves. Gently lift off the tin; if a ring sticks, put it back in place with the spatula. Serve warm or cold.