BBQ pineapple upside down cake

The cook

1. 01

   Step 1SORT THE FIRE AND KIT

   Set up your BBQ for indirect cooking at a steady 180°C, with no coals directly beneath the cake. On a kettle, bank the coals to the sides; on a kamado, fit the heat deflector. You’ll need a roughly 1.5-litre baking bowl, hickory smoking chips, foil and heatproof gloves. Use an oven-safe glass bowl only if its manufacturer approves BBQ use; otherwise use a metal pudding basin. Keep glass away from direct flame and sudden temperature changes.

2. 02

   Step 2MAKE THE BUTTERY BASE

   Grease the bowl with a little butter. Beat the 50 g softened butter with the brown sugar until spreadable, then smear it over the base and halfway up the sides. That’s your caramel topping waiting to happen.

3. 03

   Step 3ADD THE FRUIT

   Drain the pineapple, keeping 30 ml of juice for the sponge. Pat the rings dry, then press them into the butter mixture across the base and up the sides in a single layer. Cut rings to fit any gaps and save any excess fruit for serving. Pop a glacé cherry into each ring and drizzle over the maple syrup.

4. 04

   Step 4MIX THE SPONGE

   Put the remaining 100 g butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla, eggs and reserved pineapple juice into a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until smooth and combined, scraping down the sides once. Stop there — we’re making sponge, not training cement.

5. 05

   Step 5FILL THE BOWL

   Spoon the batter gently over the fruit without shifting your pineapple pattern. Smooth the surface and leave room for the sponge to rise; the bowl should be no more than about two-thirds full.

6. 06

   Step 6BAKE WITH A LITTLE SMOKE

   Sprinkle a small pinch of dry hickory chips onto the lit coals. Put the bowl on the cooking grate in the indirect zone and close the lid. Bake for 40–50 minutes, keeping the BBQ around 180°C. Leave the lid shut for the first 30 minutes so the sponge has a chance to set.

7. 07

   Step 7CHECK THE CENTRE

   Start checking at 40 minutes. Push a skewer or thin knife into the centre of the sponge, avoiding the fruit: it should come out without wet batter. If the surface is browning before the middle is cooked, loosely cover with foil and carry on baking, checking every 5 minutes. Check your BBQ temperature too — foil won’t fix a raging fire.

8. 08

   Step 8REST, FLIP, SCOFF

   Lift the bowl out with heatproof gloves and set it on a dry, heatproof trivet. Rest for 5 minutes, then gently loosen the edges. Place a heatproof serving plate over the bowl and carefully invert both together, keeping your hands protected from the hot caramel. Lift off the bowl, rescue any fruit that sticks and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.