Sake Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Black Pepper Ice Cream Serves 6

Ice cream:
16 oz high-quality vanilla ice cream (1 Haagen Dazs container)
2 tsps ground black pepper (toast the peppercorns if you prefer a milder flavor)

For the Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sake
2 extra large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

For the syrup:
2 cups diced pineapple
2 TBS sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
1/4 cup pineapple juice (or orange juice)
1/2 cup sweet sake

Ice cream: Soften ice cream by setting container out at room temperature for about 10 minutes (or microwaving on high for 5-10 seconds). Remove ice cream to a medium bowl and fold in black pepper until thoroughly combined. Return ice cream to original container or freezer-safe dish, and place in freezer to harden, about 1 hour.

Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch round cake. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and sake and mix well.
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. With mixer on low, sprinkle in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in 1/2 cup pineapple.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium saute pan over medium-low heat, combine 1 1/2 cups pineapple with sugar, vanilla and pineapple juice. Stir to dissolve sugar and cook until pineapple is al dente, then add sake.
5. Remove pineapple from syrup with a slotted spoon, draining well; reserve syrup. Cover bottom of cake pan evenly with cooked pineapple.
6. Pour cake batter over. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Let cake cool in pan on rack for about 5 minutes, then invert onto a plate. Warm reserved pineapple-sake glaze and pour over cake. Let syrup soak in and serve slices with a scoop of black pepper ice cream.

Instead of the 1/2 cup butter, I used 1/4 cup EV olive oil + 1/4 cup butter and it was fine.