ECQ Eats: Up, Down, Sideways with the Classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake by Flour Pot Manila

It's back. Chef Rhea Castro Sycip and Flour Pot Manila takes your palate back on a nostalgic journey with their decadent specialty Pineapple Upside Down Cake, updated and refreshed with contemporary modern touches. The novel procedure of baking your cake top side down popular decades back is recreated with an elegant flair you can expect from Chef Rhea and Flour Pot Manila (for more on Flour Pot Manila, see my post, Indulgence Comes Humming Your Way with the Hummingbird Cake by Flour Pot Manila from two years ago). Ready for a slice?

Every childhood has had an encounter with the popular Pineapple Upside Down Cake, an enduring dessert staple at family dinner tables decades ago. Against a gloomy backdrop of failed political institutions, a fuel hungry and dependent economy and a rebellious youth counterrevolution, the seventies brought colorful desserts to the table from ornate gelatin creations to fancy Crepes Suzette, Black Forest Cake and who can forget the classic and elaborate flambée tableside presentations at restaurants? The Pineapple Upside Down Cake ranks high on the list of memorable childhood favorites, and Flour Pot Manila's version is one of the best kept secrets in the metro. 

It's just one of many reasons that makes the road trip to Flour Pot Manila and The Fatted Calf in Tagaytay so totally worth the long leisurely drive (for more on The Fatted Calf, see my post, Serendipitous Journeys: Feast and Celebrate at The Fatted Calf Farmhouse Kitchen). But as the possibility of the ECQ extension looms with the rising cases of new infections, Flour Pot Manila offers regular scheduled deliveries to Manila so you can have your cake and eat it too in the safety and comfort of home (visit their FB Page at https://www.facebook.com/flourpotmanila/ for updates on delivery schedules). In this challenging new normal, we all need a taste of comfortingly familiar flavors to get us through the long days of quarantine. 

Chef Rhea uses the finest ingredients for her lavish Pineapple Upside Down Cake, from fresh Formosa pineapples with sweet and tart cherry centers to a soft and dense vanilla butter cake base layered with rich and smooth buttercream frosting. Enjoy a big slice and be transported to carefree childhood summers...

...and have another slice for good measure. The tall layered creation is consistent with the lavish culinary style of Chef Rhea reflected in her wide selection of fresh baked offerings at Flour Pot Manila. Paired with the freshest premium ingredients, each creation including the Pineapple Upside Down Cake weaves a decadent yet comforting richness best paired with a freshly brewed cup of coffee at home. 

Fresh and sweet Formosa pineapples give this specialty cake the familiar familiar look and flavor, with tart cherry centers poached in bourbon sugar syrup. Two tall layers of soft yet dense vanilla butter cake is the flavorful base of the dessert, draped in Chef Rhea's rich buttercream frosting with just a hint of sharpness and deep sweetness from the coconut rum. It's these distinct layers of flavors that makes the return of a well-loved classic even more special. And so decadent. 

Each slice reveals the complex layers behind the specialty Pineapple Upside Down Cake by Flour Pot Manila, coming together seamlessly with each tasty bite. The vibrant tartness of the pineapples and cherries are complemented the deep sweetness of the coconut rum in the silky smooth buttercream frosting capped by the soft layers of vanilla butter cake. It's the flavors you remember, and then some. 

Updated with a contemporary spin, the Pineapple Upside Down Cake is an elegantly upgraded version of a familiar childhood dessert masterfully recreated by Chef Rhea at Flour Pot Manila. The quarantine experience may have changed our usual routine, but you can still enjoy comforting and classic indulgence conveniently delivered to your doorstep for a nostalgic taste of the past in a new normal. Up, down and sideways, the Pineapple Upside Down Cake finds its way back to your table via Flour Pot Manila...