Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Jurassic Park

I meant to write this entry yesterday, but Hurricane Irene had other ideas about what to do with the electricity in my house. But I suppose that's rather appropriate, because in Jurassic Park, the movie du jour, a power outage  is what sets the whole plot in motion.

I've missed blogging so much! This summer has been absolutely crazy, what with job interviews and the arrival of several relatives from overseas, and I've hardly had much time to bake or blog. That's okay, though, because my favorite time to bake is during the fall, when the air is crisp and the nights are wrapped in cozy darkness. Then baking takes on an especially magical and comforting quality. I'm already tingling with excitement at the recipes I'm planning to make for this blog in the fall, featuring yummy autumnal ingredients like apples, ginger, pumpkin, and cranberries! For now, though, I've decided to pay tribute to the last lingering days of summer by revisiting a classic summer blockbuster and featuring a classic summer recipe for this entry.

When I was younger, Jurassic Park freaked me out to no end. It was the T-Rex that did it, especially that shaking cup of water that announced the dinosaur's presence. I remember being too scared to go on this ride in Disney World that featured animatronic dinosaurs because of this movie. However, when I got older, I began to appreciate the summer fun that was Jurassic Park. It helps that Steven Spielberg is an awesome director, so he created interesting characters and a sharp sense of tension that elevate Jurassic Park to a higher standard than other summer blockbusters. By the time I was a preteen, I thought that this movie was so cool, that whenever I used to swim in a certain friend's pool, which was surrounded by a tropical-looking forest (well, as tropical as you can get in Massachusetts), I would pretend that there were dinosaurs hiding in the woods. Weird, I know. But indicative of the decade-spanning power which is Jurassic Park! And now for Dan's thoughts (who, as a boy growing up in the early 90s, became very attached to this film).

Jurassic Park


Everybody has a childhood favorite they refuse to let go of. Some, like me, have a few, and Jurassic Park is one of my top nostalgic celluloid trips. That's not to say, however, that I like Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel simply on a sentimental level.

No, in many ways Jurassic Park is as brilliantly conceived an excitement ride as Raiders of the Lost Ark. The adaptation is vintage Spielberg with its awestruck gaze at the possibility of genetically creating prehistoric giants as well as the dangerous possibilities of unregulated scientific discovery.

Oh, but there's more. There are kids in danger when the dinos break free after a backstabbing park employee (played by Wayne Knight...remember him?) messes with the park's electric system. As in all of Spielberg's best films the heroes are those who turn their concern first to the kids. This time, it's the curmudgeonly paleontologist Dr. Grant, played by Sam Neill.

The real stars, though, are the dinosaurs. I still remember how much they shocked audiences and reporters in the summer of 1993. It was the first time computers created not just what looked like elaborate puppets but flesh-and-bone creatures. Science has proven much of what the film says about dinosaurs correct. Fossil evidence does indicate that dinosaurs had many commonalities with birds. Raptors may even have been covered with feathers! But in their scaly-lizard form they help make the climactic kitchen showdown a spectacle to remember.

Still, the iconic moment belongs to the T-Rex. What Generation Yer, for whom this film surely played an important role during adolescence, did not suffer a nightmare after seeing the monster attack the car with panicking children inside? Boomers had a spook with Night of the Living Dead, Generation X had a demon in The Exorcist, and finally, how fitting that the wired generation gets its share with a genetically created dinosaur.

Thanks, Dan! By the way, I think the whole raptors-had-feathers idea is really cool. It kind of makes them look like a character from Sesame Street, but watch out, because they're still raptors and therefore worthy of respect!

Anyways, on to the recipe. For Jurassic Park I chose a pineapple-upside down cake from the excellent Australian cookbook entitled Baking: A Commonsense Guide. It was absolutely delicious. How delicious? My boyfriend not only helped himself to a second slice but also wrote a Facebook post about it. I think it's the perfect cake to add to a Labor Day celebration: it's sweet with a hint of tropical paradise, but the biscuit-like texture of the cake underneath keeps it from getting too sugary. If the T-Rex had this cake he wouldn't bother chasing after humans!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

From Baking: A Commonsense Guide 

Ingredients

• 1/2 oz unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 lb canned pineapple rings (with natural juice)
• 3 1/4 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten (I used EggBeaters)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup self-rising flour

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease an 8-in ring tin.

2) Pour the melted butter on the bottom of the tin. Tip the tin around so that the butter spreads evenly. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

3) Drain the pineapple rings and reserve 1/3 cup of the juice. Cut the pineapple rings in half and arrange on the bottom of the tin.

4) Using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter and the superfine sugar until creamy. Add the eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Fold in the flour alternatively with reserved pineapple juice.
5) Spoon the mixture evenly over the pineapple rings. Smooth surface. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes. Invert the cake on a wire rack to cool.

Next week: Blueberry bread and Pete's Dragon