They Wanted New Pineapple Recipes. 2,500 Sent This Old Cake (1925)

They wanted brand-new pineapple recipes for $50. Instead, 2,500 people sent the same old cake, pineapple upside-down cake, a skillet flip with roots going back centuries. In 1925 the Association of Hawaiian Pineapple Canners asked for something unique. America mailed them the past. Today I recreate the cake that flooded that contest and the forgotten story behind it. If I were sending this back to that 1925 contest office, I’d tell them: you didn’t get new, you got enduring, and sometimes that’s better. Original 1925 Recipe - No Changes Drain the juice from 1 large can either Crushed or Sliced Hawaiian Pineapple. Sift 2 cups flour. Sift again with 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cream 1/2 cup butter or substitute, gradually add 1 cup sugar; cream well. Beat yolks and whites of 2 eggs separately. Add yolks to creamed mixture; mix well, then add flour and 1/2 cup milk alternately, mixing well. Fold the 2 beaten egg whites and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large frying pan. Spread 1 cup of brown sugar over pan. Add pineapple (if Sliced is used, place slices closely together on the sugar; if crushed, simply pour in the well-drained fruit). Pour cake batter over fruit. Bake in moderate over 360° about 45 minutes. Turn upside-down on serving dish and garnish with maraschino cherries. Whipped cream may be spread over top. #ForgottenRecipes #FoodHistory #nostalgia Sources: Bartholomew, D.P., Hawkins, R.A., & Lopez, J.A. (2012). Hawaii Pineapple: The Rise and Fall of an Industry. HortScience, 47(10), 1390–1398. HathiTrust - Digital Library -https://www.hathitrust.org/ - Used for Magazine References