I have been posting a lot of recipes of late, because that seems to be what most folks want. But, truthfully, it’s not so much what I want. What would make my little heart Full to Bursting would be if someone would take my standard Van Halen Pound Cake Recipe and turn it into whatever flavor makes them happy. So, here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to post the recipe for VHPC here along with the modifications I made to turn it into Pineapple Upside Down Van Halen Pound Cake.
But wait; there’s more! I’d like for you guys to submit in the comments section your idea for turning the VHPC into your own Signature Pound Cake. Post the ingredient list along with all measurements in the comments, and I will have The Beloved choose the cake that he would most want to put in his face. I will then take that ingredient list, bake it and post the results and the recipe to my fan page, giving The Winner full credit and links and What Not.
I will also send you a Treat of my choosing. Fear not–it will be a Baking Treat, not a cat treat or something crazy like that. It might even be a Baked Good of some sort. So, be creative but make sure that your modifications to the base recipe still retain the proportions of sugar to fat to flour to liquid to eggs. I can’t wait to see what you come up with. If you’re a little Squidgy about trying your hand at this, read the post where I walk you through the substitutions that I made to come up with the Creamsicle pound cake. That might help.
Standard, Awesome Van Halen Pound Cake–The Cake that Started It All
- 12 oz butter
- 19 oz granulated sugar
- 1 slightly rounded teaspoon sea salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (best quality)
- 5 eggs (I’ve now refined this to 5 eggs, beaten)
- 13 oz cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 10 oz dairy (it used to be 8. You can use 8 if you want, but I think it’s more melty with 10) If you use sour cream, buttermilk or yogurt (acidic dairy) be sure to add a heavy pinch of baking soda along with the baking powder to keep the pH balanced
And now, here’s the recipe for the Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake. Pay special attention to the changes I made so you can make your own changes and have it turn out Beautifully!
- 3 oz (6 Tablespoons or ¾ stick) butter (salted is fine here)
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- heavy pinch of salt if using unsalted butter; wee pinch if using salted butter
- about 6-8 oz chopped pineapple (fresh or canned in juice)
- 12 oz unsalted butter
- 18 oz granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons best quality vanilla
- 1 gently rounded teaspoon sea salt
- 5 eggs, beaten
- 13 oz cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 8 oz chopped pineapple (fresh or canned in juice)
- 2 oz sour cream
- Make sure all your refrigerated ingredients are at cool room temperature.
- Spray a 12-cup Bundt-type pan with pan spray. Flour it well, and tap out all the excess flour.
- Make sure your oven rack is positioned one notch below the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan.
- Add the sugar and salt, and stir until dissolved.
- Let the mixture come to a boil. When nice and bubbly without any butter sloshing around the edges of the sugar, pour evenly into the prepared pan.
- Arrange the cut pineapple on top however you want. I just used chopped, but half-rounds alternating in direction would look lovely.
- Set pan aside.
- Whisk together the cake flour and baking powder until well combined. Set aside.
- Puree pineapple and sour cream together in a blender. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as often as necessary.
- With the mixer on medium speed, add the beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition, until completely incorported. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet ingredients, mixing on low just until each addition is incorporated. Begin and end with dry for a total of 3 dry additions and 2 wet additions.
- Spoon batter evenly over the caramel-pineapple layer in the prepared pan.
- Smooth the batter, and bake in your preheated oven until done. This takes 1 hour and 5 minutes in my oven. Start checking at 55 minutes and go from there.
- Remove cake from oven and cover with a piece of foil. Let sit for 45 minutes, then turn out onto the plate you’ll be serving it on.
- Replace any pineapple pieces that might get stuck in the bottom of the pan and smooth down with an offset spatula sprayed with pan spray.
- Spray a parchment circle with pan spray and press onto the gooey caramel layer. Then, wrap the whole cake very well in plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge.
- Serve at room temperature. This cake doesn’t need any glaze, but a little vanilla or caramel ice cream or coconut sorbet would go nicely with it.
And there you have it. I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with for your own special pound cake! I’ll leave the submissions open through next Friday, 11/18, so you’ll have time to ponder.
Have a lovely day.
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