Granny's Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
3 cups cake flour, plus more for pan
1 cup butter, softened, plus 1/2 cup, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole buttermilk
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 (20-ounce) cans pineapple slices in juice, drained well (reserve 2 tablespoons juice for frosting)
1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained well
Pineapple Butter cream Frosting, recipe follows
Chopped pecans, for garnish, optional
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and coat with flour.
In a large bowl, beat 1 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Divide the brown sugar evenly into each pan. Pour the melted butter equally over the brown sugar. Arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over the brown sugar. Reserve remaining pineapple slices and cherries for another use.
Pour equal amounts of batter over the fruit and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.
To assemble the cake, carefully arrange 1 cake layer, pineapple side up, on a cake plate. Carefully stack the remaining cake layer, pineapple side up, over the first layer. Frost the sides of the cake with Pineapple Butter cream Frosting. Press chopped pecans into sides of cake, if desired.
Pineapple Butter cream Frosting:
1/2 pound butter, softened
2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
Beat all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined.
=====================================================
Slow Cooker Copycat Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup
Makes 10-12 servings
Ideal slow cooker size: 6 quart
1lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 cup shredded carrots (if you'd rather have chunks or diced that is fine too, I just do shredded for the kids so they don't know it's healthy :)
1 cup finely sliced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 (15 oz) cans beef broth (or 3 cups water + 1 Tbsp beef bouillon granules)*
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, with liquid
1 (15oz) can great northern beans, with liquid
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste, if needed
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup apple juice
8 oz dry ditalini pasta
Parmesan cheese or mozzarella, for serving
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic powder, oregano, basil to taste
1. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, lightly seasoning with salt & pepper. Drain then add to a large slow cooker. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, kidney beans, great northern beans, salt, oregano, basil, thyme and pepper.
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours, or until veggies are tender.
3. Add in apple juice.
4. When the soup has 10 minutes left to cook, cook pasta in salted boiling water until just under al dente. Drain, then add to the soup and let cook for about 5-10 more minutes. (if you add the uncooked pasta straight to the slow cooker it will get really thick so you'll have to add a lot more broth, and then adjust the seasonings. Unfortunately, it's best this time to stick with the stove top to cook the noodles.)
5. Salt and pepper to taste. Then season with garlic powder, oregano and basil, if needed. (*I also added a little more beef broth because, it got too thick)
6. Ladle into serving bowls and top with Parmesan cheese or mozzarella.
=============================================
