Pineapple coconut upside down cake

Traditionally this cake includes glazed red cherries on top with the pineapple, but I am not crazy about glazed cherries, and maybe more importantly- I didn't have any at home. They add a nice contrast of colour, but I think I prefer it without. The coconut compliments the pineapple beautifully.

Sponge
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp vanilla sugar
½ cup coconut
1¼ cup plain flour
4 tbsp syrup/juice from the tinned pineapple
75g butter
⅓ cup water (80-90ml)


Topping
50g butter
50g sugar (50ml)
zest of 1 lemon
7 pineapple rings


Turn the oven onto 175 degrees C. Line a round (app 9") cake tin with baking paper. Start by making the topping. Put the butter, sugar and the finely grated zest of 1 lemon into a small saucepan. Melt the butter while stirring to dissolve the sugar. When melted let cool for a couple of minutes to a thick yellow liquid. Pour the liquid into your baking tin and spread it out, and up about an inch (2,5cm) along the sides of the tin with a pastry brush.
Place the pineapple slices on top of the butter mix. 


To make the sponge beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (the bicarbonate of soda gives the sponge a slightly darker colour, so if you prefer a light coloured sponge, use only baking powder). Mix.
Mix in the dessicated coconut and the pineapple juice/syrup. Add the flour and mix.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. When melted add cold water bring back to the boil. With your electric mixer on good speed, pour the melted butter into your sponge mix and mix in well. Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes, until you can stick a skewer or knife into the cake and it comes out clean. It is important to get the cake into the oven asap after you add the melted butter, as the heat starts the process of the baking powder. 
When the cake is baked, let cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a grill to cool under a towel or cloth. Hopefully you've got a beautiful pineapple coconut upside down cake!