Pineapple upside-down cake

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) can sliced pineapples in light syrup
• 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapples in light syrup
• 4 ½ sticks butter (or margarine), divided (let 3 of the sticks soften)
• About ½ cup shredded coconut, optional
• 2 cups light brown sugar (not packed)
• 4 cups whole-wheat flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 6 eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 2 cups low-fat or skim milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Paper doilies, flowers, greens or more pineapple rings, for garnishing cake platter (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt 1 ½ sticks of butter in a 13-by-9-inch Pyrex baking pan (or in two 9-inch round cake pans) in oven as it preheats. Meanwhile, thoroughly drain sliced and crushed pineapple. Remove baking pan(s) from oven, and arrange pineapple slices and crushed pineapple evenly on top of butter. If using coconut, distribute over pineapple. Sprinkle brown sugar over all; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat three sticks of butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Mix milk with vanilla. Alternately beat in dry ingredients and milk-vanilla mixture, about a fourth of each at a time.

Beat egg whites in medium bowl with electric mixer until stiff but not dry. Fold egg whites into batter. Pour batter over pineapple, spreading evenly. Place baking pan on a cookie sheet, and bake until cake is golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes, then carefully invert onto a cookie sheet that has been covered with foil, for large cake, or cake platters, for small cakes. Serve at room temperature, preferably the next day, garnishing platter with doilies, flowers, greens or pineapple rings.

Makes about 15 servings