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Orange-Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Blackberry Drizzle

© Steven C. Karoly

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is synonymous with Dutch oven. You find it everywhere. It's featured in every Dutch oven cookbook and brochure, including recipes and instructions that come with each new Lodge Dutch oven.

This recipe is popular because it's easy to prepare. As you flip the cake onto a waiting plate, you'll discover a wonderfully caramelized top with browned pineapple rings. And its tropical fruit flavors will invite you back for seconds.

Here's two ways to prepare Orange-Pineapple Upside Down Cake. The first recipe uses packaged yellow cake while the second is prepared with baking mix (like Bisquick or Krusteaz brands). Instead of using a caramelized brown sugar topping as in Pineapple Upside Down Cake, drizzle warm blackberry jam over each piece of cake.

Orange-Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Yellow Cake

Here's a tropical alternative to traditional Dutch oven Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This recipe uses packaged cake mix like traditional upside down cake. To enhance the flavor of the cake, I've added orange extract and zest to the batter.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 20-ounce can sliced pineapple rings
1 11-ounce can mandarin oranges
8 maraschino cherries
1 18-ounce yellow cake mix (including eggs, vegetable oil and water required to prepare cake mix)
1 teaspoon orange extract
2-1/2 tablespoons orange zest
Fresh berries, as needed
Mint leaves, as needed

Use a 12-inch Dutch oven for this recipe. Ignite 25 charcoal briquettes and let them burn until they are barely covered with ash, about 20 minutes. For a 350-degree oven, you'll need 5 briquettes underneath and 20 on top of the oven.

Line oven with aluminum foil. Grease foil lining with oil. Drain canned pineapple slices and reserve juice for use in cake batter. Arrange 8 pineapple slices in a circle on the bottom of oven. Arrange orange sections inside the circle of pineapple rings. Place remaining sections between rings. Place 1 cherry inside each ring. Prepare cake mix in a bowl following package instructions, using reserved juice for water. Add orange extract and zest to batter and mix.

Arrange 5 briquettes underneath oven in a circle. Pour batter evenly over rings. Place lid on oven. Arrange 20 briquettes on lid and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Rotate oven and lid in 1/4 turns in opposite directions at 10-minute intervals. When done, remove briquettes and let cool about 10 minutes. Carefully lift cake out of the oven in its foil liner, place plate on top and invert.

Just before serving, warm jam to thin. Cut into 8 servings or 16 half servings. Drizzle jam from spoon onto each serving of cake. Garnish with fresh berries and mint leaves, if desired.