Easy Entertaining: Let's Eat Cake!

A pineapple upside down cake to pay homage to my favorite tropical fruit: that's was the delight I decided my friend Ruth Handel absolutely had to have at her retro-fabulous cocktail party in Los Angeles last month. 

We spent hours scrutinizing about the perfect menu, and I couldn't get the thought of this moist,  syrupy sweet treat topped off with maraschino cherries -- that a hint-o-mint chocolate 

cake, but I'll save that story for another day -- out of my mind.

And I happened to have exactly the perfect pan -- one with indentions to hold in place both the pineapple rounds and the cherries -- just hanging out in my kitchen cabinet.   When a dear friend's grandmother passed away, I became the keeper of the cake pan, which had waited for years in my kitchen until this day to claim its true place of honor!

Afraid that it might be taken away from me at the security gate, I carefully packed the pan into my checked bags and hoped it would make it to safely to LAX, and it did. Just look at this luscious creation, made with a simple yellow cake recipe and topped with both crushed and sliced pineapples. And displayed on one of Ruth's gorgeous examples of Fiestaware. Yum! Yum! And easy as pie -- I mean cake!

In May, Clarkson Potter will publish my book, The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details. Pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders.