Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 can (20 oz.) pineapple slices
- 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 10 maraschino cherries, drained and halved
- 1 cup sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup whipped heavy cream (optional)
Preparation
Step 1
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, let egg whites warm to room temp--about 1 hour.
2. In a 10" cast iron skillet melt 1/2 cup butter over very low heat. Remove from heat.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter. Arrange pineapple slices to cover the bottom of the skillet. Distribute the nuts around the pineapple, and the cherries in the center of the pineapple rings; set aside.
4. Sift the flour with baking powder and salt.
5. At high speed, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form when beater is slowly raised. Add granulated sugar gradually; beat well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form.
6. In small bowl, beat egg yolks with mixer until very thick and yellow.
7. With a whisk or scraper, using an under-and-over motion, gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into whites until combined. Fold in 1 tablespoon melted butter and the vanilla extract.
8. Spread batter evenly over pineapple in skillet; bake 30-35 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.
9. Loosen edge of cake; let stand 5 minutes. Invert on serving plate. Serve warm, with whipped cream topping if desired.