For the love of pineapple upside down cheesecake...

In this post, you will get:

• A review of Baked Lava's Spumoni Cookies.
• A link to Nom Nom Paleo's Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs, as well as the Nom Nom Paleo Cookbook, and some mustards. (Please note that none of the recipes in this post are Paleo. However, Nom Nom Paleo is pure gold whether you're Paleo or not!) 
• A Sarha-original Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake recipe.
• Some narrative!

Wow, it's been almost a year since I posted. It's been a busy year, but don't worry, I'm still gainfully employed far, far away, still regularly going to the gym, etc. I just haven't had any time to cook or bake or post (see being gainfully employed far, far away). My dinners, if I make them, come from a freezer or a slow cooker paired with Campbell's Slow Cooker Sauces, and desserts come from the ice cream place or the bakery. (Don't judge. Cannoli doughnuts are fantastic.)

I took the day off from work on December 24 to make goodies for my family's annual "Appetizers and Desserts" Christmas Eve dinner, and especially to fulfill my husband's request for a pineapple upside down cheesecake for his Christmas Day birthday.

For "Appetizers and Desserts" I planned to make Baked Lava's Spumoni Cookies because my mom loves spumoni and I wanted to surprise her. I also planned to make deviled eggs (some spicy and some not) like I do every year.

You're not allowed to read cookbooks in my house. It's even more forbidden than using a laptop!

The Spumoni Cookies required a little effort, as in chopping up cherries and breaking up pistachios (I crushed them a handful at a time between two glass cutting boards) and making sure every cookie had some of each yummy mix-in. My main issue was having to go to the grocery store a second time on Christmas Eve (at noon!) because I didn't think to check the first time that I had enough butter. Who doesn't have a stock pile of butter? Me! It took me fifteen minutes to find a parking spot and aggressive, reckless drivers were trying to take me out every two feet. Next time I will make sure I have enough butter and the cookies will be no effort at all. (I'll also buy more parchment paper because I ran out on my first baking sheet and had to line the other two with wax paper that got super greasy.)

The Spumoni Cookies were a hit. Absolutely delicious and a great mix of textures and flavors. Plus they were festive!

To satisfy the "Appetizer" portion of the night, I made two types of deviled eggs: One with Jim Beam Bacon Mustard for those who can't eat spicy stuff, and the other with Hit & Run Brown Horseradish Mustard. Both were tasty! Last year the spicy eggs were made with Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) Mustard and they were fantastic. I have my Nom Nom Paleo Cookbook bookmarked to the page on Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs for all my eggy needs. (I am not sure if these mustards are Paleo friendly, but I'm obviously not Paleo -- hence the cookies and cheesecake, oh my!)

 

All right, so... The moment the internet has been waiting for (judging by the great lack of pineapple upside down cheesecake recipes):

I only got a few hits when I searched for an existing pineapple upside down cheesecake recipe and I wasn't crazy about any of them. I decided to make a hybrid of Old Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and the cheesecake from Cheesecake Topped Brownies. The result was a dense, decadent, died-and-went-to-heaven cake. The cheesecake portion, as you can see in the picture, migrated a bit toward the center of the cake, and the outside was more cake part.

I used a springform pan because I was not sure how much the cake would rise and it was my deepest round pan. (The grooved pan bottom made the top of the cake look a little... textured.) It didn't rise much at all! The end product was less than two inches tall. You can use any 10 inch round pan or even a 10 inch round oven-proof skillet.

I put a small tray of water in the bottom of the oven to keep it humid in there while baking, but I really don't think that was necessary since the cheesecake portion isn't exposed and you don't have to worry about the surface cracking.

Sarha's Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake

Ingredients:

The Upside Down Part: 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple in pineapple juice 7 - 19 maraschino cherries Optional: Walnut halves

The Cheesecake Part: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons butter, softened 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 1 egg ~1/8 - 1/4 cup reserved maraschino cherry juice

The Cake Part: 1 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 eggs (separated) 1 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon butter, melted 1 teaspoon almond extract 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. The Upside Down Part: 
1. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter into the bottom of a lightly greased 10 inch round cake pan. (If you're using an oven-proof skillet as your pan, you can melt the butter in the pan over low heat, then remove it from heat.) 
2. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the pan. 
3. Arrange pineapple slices to cover the bottom of the pan. Distribute cherries in and around pineapple as desired. If you're using walnut halves, arrange them around/between the pineapple slices (they become deliciously caramelized as they bake!); set aside. Hang on to the cherry and pineapple juices -- you'll use them later!
3. The Cheesecake Part: 
1. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and cornstarch until fluffy. 
2. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk and egg until smooth. (Protip: Run the can of sweetened condensed milk under warm water before you open it; this warms up the milk and makes it easier to pour.
3. Gradually mix in ~1/8 - 1/4 cup reserved cherry juice to give the cheesecake extra color and flavor. Add a little at a time; you don't want the mixture to get runny.
4. Pour cream cheese mixture evenly over the Upside Down Part.
4. The Cake Part: 
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Separate the eggs into two bowls. 
3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. Add granulated sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. 
4. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks at high speed until very thick and yellow. With a wire whisk or rubber scraper, using an over-and-under motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until blended. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 teaspoon almond extract, and 1/4 cup pineapple juice. 
5. Pour batter evenly over the Cheesecake Part.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes. The cake is done when the center is no longer jiggly and the surface springs back when gently pressed with a fingertip. 
6. If the cake has not pulled away from the pan, loosen the edges of the cake with a knife. Cool the cake for 5 minutes before inverting onto serving plate.

My classy "serving plate" was a cake carrier lined with heavy duty foil -- that butterscotchy topping can be runny when you flip the cake!