Pineapple Upside-Down Splatcake

My sister's birthday was two and a half months ago, yet somehow I only just got around to baking her birthday cake.  She requested a pineapple upside-down cake, and I was more than happy to comply.  The past three or so years I've been meaning to bake one.  Everything was beautiful, until the final moment.  Let's just say the moment where it actually becomes upside-down didn't go as planned...



Still an amazingly delicious cake!  I used Smitten Kitchen's recipe (noticing a pattern here?) with the only change being a brilliant addition of <1/4 tsp almond extract.  Since my kitchen is currently devoid of cast iron cookware, I used a cake pan which you can see in the top right of the photo above.  The caramel sauce was made on the stovetop, then poured into the cake pan.  Pineapple slices were arranged on top of that, then the batter was spooned on and smoothed over.  It was super, except it leaked over into the oven during baking.  Next time I'm going to leave out a spoonful or two of the batter.  The cookie sheet covered in foil was put in halfway through baking to catch any more drippings, and it ended up being the permanent home of the cake.  Alas.  Regardless of final presentation, this is one of my favorite things I've baked lately.

On to dinner!  I love CSA veggies.



I just boiled some whole wheat pasta, threw the green beans in for the last few minutes, and somehow whipped up a quick carbonara sauce.  Some eggs, Parmesan, oil, garlic, and I can't remember what else.  Topped with fresh tomatoes.

I also made some tasty Asian tilapia tacos recently.  Rub tilapia with hot curry powder, pan-fry tilapia in some butter and olive oil, then flake with forks and pour some nuoc cham over it.  Nuoc cham is my new favorite condiment.  Recipe as follows: equal volume fish sauce, brown sugar, and fresh lime juice with two or three thinly sliced birds eye chilis.  Stir it all up and let it sit for at least ten or fifteen minutes before you use it.  Fish sauce is such a necessary part of life.



This is a lovely picture of a Vietnamese rice noodle bowl I made with marinated carrots/tomatoes, chili lime chicken, cilantro, and peanut sauce.  My favorite part was the carrots and tomatoes.  They're just marinated overnight in nuoc cham.  10/10, would eat again.

Next time, expect some knit-talk!  I'm on my way to fight with my camera for some good pictures of some Finished Objects.  Here's a cute dog to tide you over.



Carlos is so dreamy.