As I mentioned last week, I'm rather rushed for time of late, so the cooking recently has hardly been artisanal. But even when I have more time, I don't generally attempt to make a proper pineapple upside-down cake.
I enjoyed such a cake growing up, for my great uncle's wife originally hailed from Louisville, Kentucky, and was well versed in the traditions of Southern hospitality. And her specialty was pineapple upside-down cake, which is properly made in a cast-iron skillet. Brown sugar is warmed in butter in the skillet, and the pineapple slices and maraschino cherries are arranged on top of the melted brown sugar in the bottom of the skillet. The cake batter is poured over, and the skillet in placed in a preheated oven. After the cake is baked, the skillet is taken out to cool, and then the contents are flipped onto a large plate. Voilà, pineapple upside-down cake.
But instead I did a quick version placing brown sugar, pineapple slices and maraschino cherries in the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan, and I poured a yellow cake-mix batter on top. Since I know where the slices are, I can cut the cake to ensure that each piece contains an entire pineapple slice on top.
It doesn't taste as good as the real thing, but this inauthentic upside-down cake is good enough under the circumstances.