Gluten Free Brandy Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For our anniversary, I made my husband’s favorite dessert, and discovered a fabulous gluten free treat. It was so good that my dinner guests raided my gluten free bread, muffins, and pasta, convinced that gluten free food must all taste better! Ha! They haven’t seen all the dry, gritty, disgusting food I’ve thrown away in order to discover the good stuff! The bird plates can be purchased from Lee Wolfe Pottery. This recipe works because the cake, made in a cast iron skillet, is as moist as a fine bread pudding, and Grand Marnier really ramps up the taste. I modified this recipe from Saveur:

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS

1¾ cups all purpose gluten free flour (I like Red Band)

2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. fine salt
1⅓ cups unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
3 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1⅓ cup low-fat buttermilk
10 tbsp. dark brown sugar
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier

8 slices canned pineapple
1½ cup stemmed maraschino cherries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Using an electric beater, cream together 12 tbsp. butter, sugar, vinegar, and 2 tsp. vanilla until fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add one egg at a time to butter mixture, beating for 15 seconds between each addition. Set beater speed to low and alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 batches. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Set mixer speed to medium and beat batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Melt remaining butter in a 10" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in remaining vanilla, brown sugar, and brandy until dissolved, 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat; arrange pineapple slices across bottom of skillet. Arrange cherries evenly among the slices. Pour in cake batter. Bake until cake is golden and set, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate.