My father was stationed in Hawaii when I was a youngster. My sisters & I competed for the pineapple core. Just loved it. I bought a pineapple a few years ago & was anticipating enjoying the core...tough, chewy, ick. Have pineapples changed or did I just have tougher teeth & jaw back then?! :-)
I saw an interesting recipe for a Pinapple Upside Down Cake on Facebook (from The Trend) a few days ago & jotted down the recipe. It wasn’t specific on measurements for some things so you’d just have to ‘wing it.’ (See final note.)
In a bundt cake pan, pour in melted butter.
Add brown sugar & mix together, smear up sides.
Take a can of sliced pineapple & cut in half. Place the slices in the pan with ends sticking up. Use maraschino cherries to keep pineapple spaced evenly & upright.
Take a yellow cake mix & add a package of vanilla pudding mix. Add a cup of pineapple juice, a cup of milk, a quarter cup of vegetable oil & 3 eggs & blend together. Pour over pineapple slices in the bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from bundt pan onto plate.
Note: the exact amounts of the fluid are estimated. Might want to use ¾ cup & add more if not thin enough.
Interestingly, pineapple juice can help dissolve it. (Or Coca-cola.)
You probably had fresh, young ones. I’m sure I’ve eaten edges of core, in my ‘pineapple butchering’ days; but it’s generally too tough.
Pineapple in Hawaii and pineapple in the US are two entirely different things.