Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

My mother made this cake for my father's birthday every year. He really loved it. The radial symmetry makes a beautiful presentation (says my inner geometry geek).

• I have a recipe card that my mom typed up for me, however it does not have the details about the fruit topping. Luckily, I also have her copy of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook and now I understand why she did not include all those directions -- photos and directions for three variations fill an entire page. I only remember my mom making Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, so that's all I'm showing here.  The other two were Prune Upside-Down Cake and Peach (or Apricot) Upside-Down Cake.
• This recipe uses either regular flour or cake flour. The measurement does not change with the type of flour. That's unusual.
• My mom's high altitude adjustments are shown [inside square brackets].

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Adapted from Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook

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Topping
1/3 cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
8 canned pineapple rings
8 maraschino cherries
Whole pecans -- I think my mom used walnuts
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Cake Batter
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons juice from fruit = ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sifted flour or cake flour
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

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Prepare the pan and topping first.

• Drain the pineapple. Save the juice for use in the batter.
• Preheat oven to 350° [high altitude: 375°].
• Melt the butter in a heavy 10" skillet or baking dish.
• Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter.
• Arrange the drained cooked fruit and nuts on the top. Remember, this will become the top of the cake, so place nuts and cherries accordingly. The photo in the book shows one ring in the center and 7 rings around the edge, a cherry inside each ring, and nuts filling in empty spaces.

Make the batter and bake.

• Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored (about 5 minutes).
• Gradually beat in the sugar.
• Beat in all at once: juice from fruit and the vanilla extract.
• Sift together dry ingredients and beat in all at once.
• Pour cake batter over the fruit.
• Bake until "wooden pick thrust into center of cake comes out clean." Original recipe estimates 45 minutes. [high altitude: test with toothpick at 30 minutes].
• "Immediately turn upside-down on serving plate. Do not remove pan for a few minutes. Brown sugar mixture will run down over cake instead of clinging to pan."
• Serve warm with plain or whipped cream.