Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Hello! What is your dad doing today? Mine is out  on the green with his friends. Since he's such an independent guy, my mother and I made him a cake that he would enjoy after a round of golf.

Old-Fashioned Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Recipe from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe
(Makes one 9-inch cake, or in my case, two 6-inch cakes)

1 pineapple
1 3/4 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of water
1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Using a serrated knife, peel, halve, and core the pineapple. Cut them into 1/4-inch-thick slices. You don't have to keep them in rings, the cookbook recommends cutting the rings in half or smaller.
2. Put 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan. Add water and gently swirl to moisten the sugar. Place the pan over high heat and let it boil. Do not disturb it! The syrup will start boil and thicken, changing in color as it caramelizes.
3. When the caramel is medium golden brown, turn down the heat and stir in 3/4 stick of unsalted butter. Carefully add the pineapple and stir until it is coated with the caramel.
   
4. Using a fork/spatula/chopstick, transfer the pineapple to your cake pan. I didn't butter the cake pan, but you can if you like.
   
5. Preheat the oven to 350F.
6. In my case, I placed one ring at the bottom of the 6-inch cake pan and poured the remaining caramel in. 
7. Using a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and egg yolks together. Slowly whisk in the 1 cup of sugar, the vanilla extract, and 1 stick of butter.
8. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until combined.
9. Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple in the cake pan. Smooth the top out with a spatula.
10. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. You can let the cake cool in the pan, or be impatient like me and carefully invert it onto a plate. Enjoy!

The cake tastes so good right out of the oven. Sure, it will still taste delicious after a cool down, but I just love the mix of pineapple juice with warm caramel soaking into the cake.

A cake for my dad, a cake for Howard's dad. A happy father's day indeed.