Pineapple Upside Down Cake is a classic and one of the first things I ever baked!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake is the very first recipe I made in my first home ec class. I was in 7th grade and I remember that day pretty well. Not because of the delicious pineapple upside down cake, which it was, but because I ended up in the emergency room.
So I was pretty much a novice in the kitchen, not having spent much time in the kitchen before home ec class. We had made our pineapple upside down cake and I was given the assignment to open the new box of plastic wrap. Who knew this could be so dangerous and I am sure the teacher is sorry she asked me. But I struggled to push down on the little tab that opens the box and I pushed a little too hard, the tab gave way and the base of my thumb went down onto the serrated edge of the box. And there was blood. The cut was deep enough to send me to the ER. I don’t honestly remember if I got stitches or not. Who would have known that many years later that inexperienced cook would be a food blogger! I now know how to open a box of plastic wrap correctly too!!
Fortunately I haven’t had too many cooking accidents since that once, except for the bagel incident but that story is for another day……
I love to make my pineapple upside down cake in my 9″ cast iron frying pan. I just love that thing! The bottom is filled with melted butter, brown sugar and then layered with pineapple. I love using sliced pineapple right of the can. It is so easy and tastes so fresh and is so much easier then peeling, coring and slicing a fresh pineapple.
I cut my pineapple rings in half so I could get more pineapple in the pan. The more pineapple the better as far as I’m concerned. The red cherries look so pretty!
Gently cover that with the cake batter. Be careful as you spread the cake batter so that you don’t dislodge the cherries. You want it to look pretty when you take it out of the pan too.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 35 – 40 minutes or until cake is cooked through. Test with a toothpick. Allow the cake to sit in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn it upside and let the cake fall out of the pan onto a plate on it’s on. I like to run a knife around the edge of the pan before flipping it upside down.
There it is in all it’s loveliness! I love the gooey and crunch edge that forms from the brown sugar and butter. I use buttermilk in the cake batter and it makes for a nice moist cake.
Or if you want to dress it up a little bit more, I like to pour some vanilla sauce over the top. You will find all kinds of things to enjoy this vanilla sauce on top of!!
It makes even more delicious!!
Just be careful when you open that box of plastic wrap!
Upside Down Pineapple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks of butter softened (3/4 C)
- 3/4 C packed brown sugar
- 1 can of canned pineapple rings drained, slices cut in half except for one ring
- 1 jar of maraschino cherries
- 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 egg white room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 C buttermilk room temperature
Vanilla Sauce
- 2 1/2 C whole milk divided
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/3 C sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place 4 Tbsp of butter in 9 inch cast iron pan or cake pan
- Place in oven and allow butter to melt then remove from oven.
- Stir brown sugar into butter and pat into an even layer.
- Place whole ring in middle of pan and layer half slices around middle slice.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bow.
- In your mixer beat remaining butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Beat the eggs and egg white into batter.
- Add vanilla.
- Add in flour mixture and milk. Alternate. Mix until incorporated.
- Batter will be thick.
- Gently spread over the top of pineapple slices.
- Bake cake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cake cool for 10 minutes.
- Place a serving plate over the top of the pan and then flip the cake over. Allow the cake to release onto the plate. Remove cake and pan allow cake to cool.
Vanilla Sauce
- Heat milk in a pan until just simmering.
- Mix cornstarch into remaining 1/2 C milk and whisk until dissolved.
- Add in sugar and egg yolks to cornstarch mixture and beat until smooth.
- Slowly pour into simmering milk and whisk together.
- Stir frequently until thickened, about 3-4 minutes
- Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla.
- If you have lumps of cornstarch pour sauce through a sieve to remove them.
- Cover top of sauce with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
- Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate and chill completely.
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It looks delicious. Exactly how much flour do we need? The recipe is slightly unclear. Thanks.
Nancy, I updated the recipe – thanks!
Pineapple upside down, totally my favorite. My Mom (RIP) and my ex wife were excellent cooks but now it’s up to me when I have the need for my favorite. Yep, I’m a guy and I can do it. I’ve made them from scratch, but here’s a cheater way that works. I use any white or yellow cake mix. Store brand works well also. Follow box directions BUT use the pineapple juice in place of water (a must). Another must is use a cast iron skillet. Flip it over on a plate within minutes when done. With a box mix I usually have a little extra mix which I bake in a cake pan. Extra cake works great as strawberry short cake.
My mom used to make this cake. The cherries would put me in the hospital today. Sorry about your first home economics experience! My best friend back in my first home ec class put salt instead of sugar in the cocoa. We were spitting it out! She mixed up the salt and sugar. LOL
My daughter is allergic to cherries too if they are raw but she can eat them cooked. I bet that salt in the cocoa tasted bad!
This is such a pretty cake!! You know – I don’t think I’ve ever actually made a pineapple upside down cake, but I know that definitely needs to change!
Thanks Deborah. You definitely should make one – it’s a classic!
Since this is my husband’s and I’s favorite cake , I’ll have to try this one! I add chopped pecans to the toppings, before adding the cake batter !
Terry, Chopped pecans would be a great addition!
What a beautiful cake and presentation!
This sounds amazing!
My vanilla sauce is just water, sugar, corn starch, butter and nutmeg. The nutmeg goes so well with the pineapple. I wonder what the sauce from this recipe would be like with nutmeg added.