Tips for pineapple upside down cake?

I have made the recipe I found here (granny's upside down cake):

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1097670893

I have done it twice. Tonight I substituted fresh figs and simple syrup for pineapple and pineapple juice since we have figs on a tree in our yard. The recipe is delicious both ways, but I have had an issue with sticking to the bottom of the pan. This surprises me given the large amount of butter. I have tried two different pans, a BSR Red Mountain 8 that is well seasoned and a Griswold slant Erie 9 that is nerve to me.

Anyone have any tips or alternative recipes that work better? I do the cake from scratch rather than a mix as called for in the recipe and the only think I have omitted is the maraschino cherries.

Thx for any thoughts/suggestions!

It is obviously the lack of cherries. Cherries have a nonstick component that is released with heat. Did you ever see a cherry stuck to anything? Of course not, they roll right off. I just had to start off with this BS, so please ignore the above with a smile.

Sugar touching the bottom of the skillet is more than likely the issue. Unlike cherries, sugar will stick to anything with a little moisture. Stirring the sugar into the melted butter until all is a heavy syrup should be the solution. I have noticed that those who don’t stir, or use enough butter end up using parchment paper to solve the sticking problem.

Hilditch

Thanks Hilditch! I will try stirring next time. If that fails, I will go with the parchment paper.

By the way, we really like using fresh figs in the recipe. Should you have a tree nearby, you might give it a try assuming you like figs.

Thanks again for the help.

No sticking and I don't stir, but stirring certainly wouldn't hurt and could certainly help as HD said. I do not pat down the brown sugar over the melted butter. I just sprinkle it over as evenly as possible. Also, be sure to turn the cake out in about 10 minutes while everything is still hot and melted.

The squirrels and the deer get my figs before I have a chance to pick them.

That 5 to 10 minute window is important. Also a fast flip is good. For those that haven’t done it: first run a dinner knife around the edges to make sure they are loose and put a plate upside-down over the skillet holding it down with one hand. Lift the skillet with the other hand and quickly flip together. Your back up tool is a spatula. This is where a large piece of parchment paper is helpful in a Dutch oven.

Hilditch

I waited about five minutes before inverting. The issue I think was the sugar as there were parts that were adhered like cement to the bottom of the pan and were not easy to clean! I scraped off what I needed to with the spatula and it tasted great, but the cosmetics were affected somewhat. Live and learn! Thanks to you both for your sage advice.

I fixed the varmit problem by tying red surveying ribbon along the limbs of the fig bush. My main problem was birds.