The fantastic Great British Bake Off has returned to our screens this past week, with a brand new batch of bakers trying to impress the lovely Mary Berry and feisty Paul Hollywood. For the last two series, I’ve been a passive viewer - sometimes drooling, sometime awe-inspired by what the amateur bakers are managing to achieve. The showstopper challenge still impresses me every time, particular as they draw near the end of the series.

Anyway, this time round, I thought I’d get more involved and bake something each week based on what the challenges were for the episode in question.

This first week’s options were:

• Signature dish - Upside down cake
• Technical challenge - Rum ba ba
• Showstopper - A cake with something hidden inside

I’ve never heard of a rum ba ba, and I’ve only just about got to grips with a sponge cake, let alone hiding something inside it. So the choice for me was obvious, and I thought I’d go with the staple Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

Step 1 - Ingredients!

Step 2 - Layering the tin with pineapple and cherries. I didn’t really have a great tin, so I sort of improvised with a deep baking tray. Turned out alright in the end.

Step 3 - Mix together the rest of the ingredients to make the batter. Nigella (in her energy-saving ways) suggested a food-processor, but I couldn’t be bothered with that so I just mix, mix, mixed.

Step 4 - Batter on top of pineapples. I was surprised at how thin the layer of cake batter over the stuff was. I thought it was because I was using an odd-shaped tin, but Nigella says thin layer is right.

Step 5 - The underside got quite brown and it was in the oven for about ten minutes less than the recipe suggested. I was worried it was ruined and I’d have to try again, but once I turned it out it looked quite good!

Conclusion - Mmm. Personally, as much as I like pineapple, I wasn’t very sure about it in a cake setting. I also don’t really like cherries. However, putting all that aside, it was nice! The cake batter turned out moist and yet crunchy, quite crumbly and very more-ish. I like how quick and easy it was to make, and overall I’d say it was a success. I don’t think I’ll make a pineapple version again but I’m certainly more intrigued by the upside-down cake concept.