Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Wow, Labor Day, really? It seems the summer is nearly through, but before the leaves turn there is still celebration & libation to be had. This week's cocktail is a fantastic summer-celebrating fruity treat, with a delight of sweetness and a tease of the tastebuds. My friends I give you the Pineapple Upside Down Cake. This is a particular favorite during a party because it does not take long to make, the presentation is fantastic, and you have the added bonus of hearing people say “Wow, it really tastes like  pineapple upside down cake!” because, trust me, it does.

The ingredients for this one are simple. First off, pineapple juice. I use frozen concentrate. I’m sure if you did use fresh squeezed it would be a case of awesome made awesom-er, nevertheless for me, for now concentrate is sufficient. One thing I will say in regards to this is it is best to use unsweetened pineapple juice as there is plenty of other sweetness we will be adding along the way.

Since we are using pineapple juice it will be best to garnish this drink with a cherry at the bottom. This is best done right before mixing your cocktail. And I love the way a cherry sits at the bottom of a martini glass, soaking up the cocktail ingredients for a delightful chewy huzzah at the end.

Next up vanilla vodka. I have learned to make peace with the crazy array of infused and flavored vodkas making their way into cocktail culture. Though I've yet to see what will be done with “Salmon Vodka.” I kid you not. No need to go too expensive with the vanilla vodka, but at least consider a mid range brand. I use Pinnacle. It’s readily available, cost effective, and they really seem to be one of the more popular infused / flavored vodka brands, especially in the range of dessert vodkas.

To help bring that baked crust taste you want to use amaretto. Amaretto is essentially a sweet almond flavored liqueur.  The most common of these is Disaronno. For my first go round making the pineapple upside down cake I used Gozio Amaretto and found it worked quite nicely.  To give the cocktail some color and a little more sweetness, this is based on a dessert after all, you will add a small splash of grenadine which also helps enhance the pineapple upside down cake appearance.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
1 ½ Oz Vanilla Vodka
3 Oz Pineapple Juice
½ Oz Amaretto
Splash of Grenadine
1 Cherry
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Prep Martini Glass with Cherry. Combine Vodka, Pineapple Juice and Amaretto in cocktail shaker. Add ice & shake well. Strain into martini glass, add small splash of grenadine.

So, the build on this is fairly simple. First, prep a chilled martini glass with a sizable maraschino cherry at the bottom. Now, in your cocktail shaker add 1 ½ oz of vanilla vodka, 3 oz of pineapple juice and ½ oz of amaretto. Add ice and shake till chilled. Strain into martini glass. You will see a thin layer of foam at the top because of the pineapple juice.

Now add just a splash of grenadine in the middle while still maintaining the foamy layer. The grenadine should sink down around the cherry. The cocktail should now have a fun layered look of cherry on the bottom, a yellowish vanilla, amaretto, pineapple layer in the middle and a thin foamy white top with a hint of pink in the center where the grenadine splashed through. Enjoy!