One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila…CAKE

When I wrote this I was on the plane coming back north and it occurs to me that I may have talked about this in the past…but since these people are so wonderful they deserve a second post so suck it up and read through or just skip to the Upside Down Tequila Pineapple Cake.

I just had the most amazing weekend in LA.  If you’d told me two years ago I’d be making this many wonderful visits to the city known most for smog and plastic movie starlets, I’d have laughed in your face.  Not a nice laugh; the dry, derisive laugh of condescension.  The truth is that while there are plenty of things to dislike about the place I’ve discovered one thing I never knew I’d find there: an eclectic, talented and magnetic group of friends that never cease to be wonderful company.

Meeting all these people may be the best part of my Guild Extra experience and that really is saying a lot.  As much fun as it was to be a part of a show I love, the friends I gained are the real payoff.  It would have been nothing more than a great memory of something from my past by now had I not met these geeks and nerdlets.  Instead the magic of that experience gets transformed and relived when I make these visits.  It’s really more than I ever thought I would get out of that single weekend of filming.

Around 20 adults of all ages get together on an average of one weekend a month.  In actuality it’s probably more often than that but being a northern California resident I only make it down once a month and I’m just going to forget the fact that I probably miss out on 50% of the fun these folks have.  In any case once a month or so we get together at the house of GeekyFanboy (he diligently records everything!) and have movie marathon weekends that include hiking at Vasquez rocks and a ton of food and libations.  Geeks know how to party, let’s get that straight right now.

This weekend we went full blown 80’s style with film favorites like Ghostbusters, Princess Bride and a lot of our group even decided to cosplay for the weekend.   Since my sewing skills are still rudimentary at best I was a bit limited in what I could put together in a very short amount of time.  Thankfully inspiration struck and while it may have been cheating to go with an 80’s character created out of a sitcom from the last decade, Robin Sparkles was a big hit.  Well at least among the HIMYM crowd.  Still not as impressive as the Zuul, Mad Max, Dread Pirate Roberts or Ash (Evil Dead) that showed up, but a girl does what she can.

Robin Sparkles in the Kitchen

Of course no weekend visiting friends is complete if I don’t bake something.  Sticking with the alcohol theme that accompanies many of these evenings (like I said, geeks know how to party) I made this Tequila Upside Down Pineapple Cake.  I love this recipe and I’ve made it a few times before.  The cake is best when it’s still warm out of the oven; gooey on top but nice and springy on the inside.  I doubled the recipe for the party (picture shown NOT from this weekend) and fear that toward the center of my 9×13 cake it was still a little undercooked.  Should have covered it with foil and gone another ten minutes.  Of course the upside to an undercooked batter is maybe not all the alcohol cooks out.

What can I say?  Geeks know how to party.

“Bottoms Up” Tequila Pineapple Cake

from The Boozy Baker

For the Pineapple Topping:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp gold tequila
• 1/2 small pineapple peeled, quartered and sliced

For the Cake:

• 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 6 Tbsp unsalted, softened butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp gold tequila
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Topping: if you have a good cake pan out of durable metal go ahead and prepare this in the pan.  Otherwise do this in a heavy bottomed saucepan but you’ll lose some of the goo when you pour into the cake pan.

Over medium heat melt the butter, stirring occasionally.  Once melted add in the brown sugar and tequila and stir until the sugar has slightly caramelized.  Pull off the heat and arrange the pineapple slices.  (Note: you really want to fill out the pan since the batter will displace them if you use only a few slices)

Cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter on high for one minute.  Add the sugar and beat for an additional two minutes until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time followed by the tequila shots.

In a separate bowl blend together the dry goods (flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder) and alternate adding this blend into your batter with the buttermilk.  Should be done in three parts.

Pour the batter over your pineapple topping in the cake pan.  Bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the edges of the cake start to pull away from the pan.  If your cake starts to brown too much before time is up, cover it with an aluminum foil tent.  That’s what I **should** have done for my doubled recipe.

Enjoy the cake, warm is when it’s best.