Pineapple Upside Down Cake

My father's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down. I'll admit, it's one of my favorite's too. Up until yesterday, I always baked them from the box - it was out of habit. I hardly make anything from the box these days, so I decided to make it from scratch for Father's Day. After an exhaustive search online and through cook books, I ended up putting together a recipe from a little of this and a little of that. It turned out surprisingly good. I have to tweak some measurements I think and what pan I use next time (I should've used round!), but this is a fairly decent recipe to use in the meantime: 


Pineapple Upside Down Cake


1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cans of pineapple rings in the juice (reserve juice) - should be 8 total
8 maraschino cherries (or more for decorating)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups of reserved juice from pineapple rings 


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 


Pat the pineapples dry with a paper towel. Reserve the juice from the canned pineapple, should be 3/4 cup. 


Stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Spread mixture evenly in a well buttered 9 inch round cake pan. Add pineapple rings and place cherry in the center of the pineapple. 


Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 


In a large mixer, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on at a time, then add vanilla. 


Add the flour mixture, alternating with the reserved pineapple juice. Beat well after each addition. 


Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. 


Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes once done. 


Invert the cake onto a plate and serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Add ice cream or whipped cream if desired.