Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe (2024)

By Jonathan Reynolds

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes
Rating
4(599)
Notes
Read community notes

I've had plenty of bad pieces of pineapple upside-down cake — usually because the dough is too heavy or dry, and sometimes the overly shrill sweetness makes you want to quit living, at least for the length of time you are eating it. But properly prepared, this guilty pleasure is most welcomely retro, and in the recipe here, the cake, while not exactly dietetic, is not life-threatening either.

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Topping

    • 4tablespoons butter
    • ¾cup light brown sugar
    • 3tablespoons light rum
    • 1pineapple, peeled, cored, sliced into rings; four rings cut in semicircles
    • 3cups fresh blackberries or fresh or frozen cranberries
    • 12 to 16pecan halves
    • 12 to 16pitted cherries

    For the Cake

    • cups all-purpose flour
    • teaspoons baking powder
    • 3tablespoons cornmeal
    • ½teaspoon salt
    • 8tablespoons unsalted butter
    • 1cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for the egg whites
    • 4large eggs, separated
    • teaspoons vanilla extract
    • cup sour cream or Coco López or whole milk
    • 1teaspoon chopped rosemary (optional)
    • 1cup chopped pecans (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

672 calories; 33 grams fat; 13 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 12 grams monounsaturated fat; 5 grams polyunsaturated fat; 88 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 58 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 267 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Step

    2

    Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet; stir in brown sugar.

  3. Step

    3

    Stir in rum; let mixture bubble.

  4. Arrange fruit in mixture and intersperse pecans. Pineapples may overlap; place semicircles along sides of skillet; place cherries in middle of ring. Berries should be evenly distributed — their mirror image will be what the top of the cake looks like.

  5. Step

    5

    For the batter, mix flour, baking powder, cornmeal and salt in a bowl.

  6. Step

    6

    Cream butter at slow speed in an electric mixer and gradually add 1 cup of sugar. Beat until fluffy.

  7. Step

    7

    Add egg yolks and vanilla.

  8. Step

    8

    Add half the dry mixture, beating, then half the liquid (sour cream, Coco Lòpez or milk). When incorporated, add the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining liquid. Add rosemary and pecan pieces (both optional).

  9. Step

    9

    In another bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

  10. Step

    10

    Fold half of the whites into mixture, then fold in the rest. Spread the batter evenly over the fruit.

  11. Step

    11

    Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until a knife inserted — into the dough only — comes out clean.

  12. Step

    12

    Let the cake sit for a minute, then run a knife around the edge and invert a serving dish on top. Turn the skillet and serving dish over, gently rap the bottom of the skillet. Serve.

Ratings

4

out of 5

599

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Julie Hutchinson

Do not add all blackberries or it will overflow even more than it did. I added at most one cup of blackberries. And no cherries.

Bea

I followed the recipe closely, except for using canned pineapple slices and fewer berries. It came out of the pan perfectly, and it was delicious and beautiful. Thank you.

Barbara

Cook's Illustrated has a wonderful fool proof recipe I make 2 cakes one for family & one for my neighbor

Ellen

Disappointing. I'm still in search of the perfect pineapple upside down cake. I followed the recipe....it overflowed and burnt in bottom of oven. It took longer than 50 minutes for a knife to come out clean. Then the cake was dry and I could taste the cornmeal. My guests and I agreed that its was okay but not so good as to make again. I want a much more moist cake.

sean

This was the best pineapple cake I've ever made. Everyone loved it. The cake part was particularly good. I didn't have sour cream, so used Greek yogurt, and I added pecans but not rosemary. On top I used strawberries instead of blackberries. I made it in a very heavy iron pan and it turned out beautifully.

Nancy

Whoops! My mistake - I should have written that I use a standard 12-inch cast iron skillet and have no trouble with overflow. Sorry about that.

Andrej

Cut the dry ingredients in half, it wont go over and it will be much more moist, plus the ratio of cake to fruit is much better and tastier in the end!

Nova

Halved it and baked in 8-9 inch cast iron. Only used pineapple and pecan topping. Cut the sugar: 1/3 cup of brown sugar for topping, and little less than 1/2 cup of sugar in the batter. Baked ~35 min. Used coconut milk.

Coconut Cream

I used 1/4 C dried unsweetened finely shredded coconut instead of cherries/berries in the bottom after placing the pineapple and pecans. Instead of Coco Lopez I used 2/3 C Coconut Cream. The cake was delicious, not dry or overflowing. I did use the chopped pecans and rosemary. Because of allergies, I used Einkorn flour which is a bit nuttier in flavor. All in all this one is a keeper

Scrapple Queen

My go-to quarantine cake. Only bakes 30 min in my skillet. I use coconut milk.

katy

I found it to be too sweet despite using a little less sugar. I would make it again and cut back more on the sugar. It did use a lot of bowls!

Lee

I transferred the sauce from my skillet to a 10x10 casserole before baking. I used three eggs instead of 4 and the crumb was very nice. Skipped the blueberries. Could run the cornmeal through the coffee grinder for a finer texture. Baked 40 min. at altitude. Delish.

Monica H

If you arrange the fruit on the sugar mixture and keep cooking it over low heat while preparing the cake, it makes for a much nicer carmelization. Also, baking on the bottom rack of the oven helps!

Jessie

Had two (TWO!) over-ripe pineapples that were (mostly) not enjoyable to eat cut up. Enter this recipe! I have a 9 in cast iron and was aware of the potential for things to bubble over. Since we had a lot of fruit, I used the mini-cuisinart to chop the pineapple that didn't fit in the pan, and mixed it into the batter. With leftover batter, made 4 mini-loaves of "pineapple coconut cake." Batter subs: added pineapple, coconut flour for cornmeal, Mykonos for butter, cut sugar to 3/4 C, coconut milk

Patsy Hatchett

This was an interesting take on pineapple upside-down cake. We found it to have too much fruit. More did not turn out to be better. Fruit upside-down cake is a more appropriate name. The taste of pineapple was overshadowed. These cakes are usually such a pleasure to look at, but appearance was marred by all the fruit. It tasted fine. But too much of a mixed bag and too much trouble to do again.

Nina

I tried cutting the dry ingredients to 2/3, instead of 1/2 as Andrej suggested. The result was dense and eggy, but very tasty and a nice ratio of cake to fruit. Maybe cut the whole cake by 2/3 next time?

Alex

After having the pineapple upside down cake at Cochon in New Orleans (10 stars), I set out to recreate the recipe. This is the only recipe that I found that includes corn meal, like theirs, which adds a nice texture. Otherwise, I found this cake somewhat unremarkable. What I'm looking for is some ineffable mix of this recipe and a tres leches cake. Which gives me an idea...

Jessie

Had two (TWO!) over-ripe pineapples that were (mostly) not enjoyable to eat cut up. Enter this recipe! I have a 9 in cast iron and was aware of the potential for things to bubble over. Since we had a lot of fruit, I used the mini-cuisinart to chop the pineapple that didn't fit in the pan, and mixed it into the batter. With leftover batter, made 4 mini-loaves of "pineapple coconut cake." Batter subs: added pineapple, coconut flour for cornmeal, Mykonos for butter, cut sugar to 3/4 C, coconut milk

Monica H

If you arrange the fruit on the sugar mixture and keep cooking it over low heat while preparing the cake, it makes for a much nicer carmelization. Also, baking on the bottom rack of the oven helps!

Lee

I transferred the sauce from my skillet to a 10x10 casserole before baking. I used three eggs instead of 4 and the crumb was very nice. Skipped the blueberries. Could run the cornmeal through the coffee grinder for a finer texture. Baked 40 min. at altitude. Delish.

Christine Whittington

My family loved this. It's not your typical church basem*nt potluck pineapple upside down cake. It has lots of fruit and pecans, so leftovers can become breakfast, especially if paired with plain or vanilla yogurt. I used canned cherries because I had some hanging around for some time, and also canned pineapple rings because peeling a pineapple wasn't on my to-do list and the store did not have fresh rings. This may be why the bottom (i.e. top) of my cake had red rather than golden pineapple!

Cathy

I used only 3 eggs (separated) and baked in a 10x10 baking dish, because the first time I made this it overflowed. Omit cherries & blueberries. Also used a mix of sour cream and milk. Came out delish. Baked 40 minutes at altitude.

Veronica HP

I made the cake exactly as written, but for the topping had chopped walnuts on hand. Also, I didn’t have any berries, so just used canned pineapple. It still turned out great! The cake has a substantive crumb in a good way. This cake will be a regular in our household and love that it flexed well with what I had in the house.

mwarden

Cooked according to the directions with frozen cranberries (3 cups, really??) came out way too watery

david

I made this in a 12” skillet and I didn’t have any spill. Made it pretty much to the letter except canned pineapple because, coring a pineapple? No thanks. Turned out beautifully.

Michele

A nice cake but very very sweet. The sugar from the pineapple topping permeates the cake so I would significantly cut the amount of sugar in the cake. I used 3/4 c of sugar (rather than 1 c in recipe) and it was still too sweet. I added 1/4 c chopped shredded unsweetened coconut batter. Very good.Make sure your pineapple is sweet and good; use canned pineapple rings if it isn't. The pineapple makes the cake.

Steph

I made the cake in a 10 inch cast iron skillet with sour cream and used maybe half the blackberries stacked up the sides, around the circle of pineapple half rings, and only a few cherries in the center. The cake puffed out some but I only had a bit of blackberry juice drip while cooking for the full time as instructed. The cake cooked perfectly moist for me and had a nice presentation when I flipped it over. I'd definitely make it again.

Nova

Halved it and baked in 8-9 inch cast iron. Only used pineapple and pecan topping. Cut the sugar: 1/3 cup of brown sugar for topping, and little less than 1/2 cup of sugar in the batter. Baked ~35 min. Used coconut milk.

katy

I found it to be too sweet despite using a little less sugar. I would make it again and cut back more on the sugar. It did use a lot of bowls!

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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

When should you flip an upside-down cake? ›

Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for just 20 minutes. Invert the slightly cooled cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Some of the juices from the topping will seep over the sides—that's ok. You can slice and serve the cake warm, but the slices will be messy.

Is it better to make pineapple upside down cake the day before? ›

Pineapple upside-down cake tastes best fresh and doesn't keep as well as most layer cakes. However, if you wish to keep it, cover it with foil or plastic wrap or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days. You may also wrap tightly and freeze for several weeks.

Why is the top of my pineapple upside down cake soggy? ›

How do you keep pineapple upside down cake from getting soggy? To prevent a soggy pineapple upside down cake, be sure to blot any excess liquid from your pineapples, and avoid using any additional juice or liquid than the recipe calls for in the cake.

How do you get pineapple upside down cake to not stick to the pan? ›

In order to keep the fruit in place and protect the caramel from sticking, line the bottom of the pan with parchment. A smooth stovetop caramel is also key to the perfect upside-down cake. This recipe uses reserved pineapple juice and cornstarch to ensure the caramel stays nice and velvety.

Do you have to refrigerate a pineapple upside-down cake after it's baked? ›

Store pineapple upside-down cake covered in the refrigerator to retain the texture and moistness as much as possible and enjoy it within 2 or 3 days.

How long to leave pineapple upside down before cutting? ›

Resting the pineapple upside down for 30 minutes helps the juices to run back down and distribute for evenly juicy pieces. After 30 minutes, cut off the other end of the pineapple. Remove the skin of the pineapple by slicing it off, following the shape of the pineapple.

What does pineapple mean in girl code? ›

The prickly but sweet 🍍 signifies a “complicated” relationship, but this fruit-filled code has many other ingredients in the mix: : Single. 🍎: Engaged. 🍒: Committed relationship.

Can you use parchment paper when baking a pineapple upside down cake? ›

Placing a round of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan can prevent this sticking and make the cake easier to release after baking. If you prefer not to use parchment paper, greasing the pan thoroughly can also help prevent sticking. What is a substitute for maraschino cherries in pineapple upside down cake?

What is a substitute for maraschino cherries in pineapple upside down cake? ›

By substituting pecans (or other nuts) for the usual maraschino cherries, this twist on a classic upside-down cake is less sweet and crunchier than the usual recipe. Caramelizing the brown sugar in a skillet before adding the fruit gives you a particularly deep, complex flavor.

What is the best pan for an upside-down cake? ›

Cast iron may not be on the ingredient list for your upside-down cake, but it's the perfect piece of cookware to experiment with this classic dessert. Here are three reasons you should use cast iron when you bake this classic treat, along with some tips to keep in mind.

Is pineapple upside-down cake bad for dogs? ›

Can Dogs Eat Pineapple Cake? You shouldn't share pineapple cake with your dog. Although pineapple itself is healthy, pineapple cake has too much sugar for your dog and could make them sick. There's also the risk of additional ingredients that are toxic to dogs, like nutmeg or xylitol.

Does turning a pineapple upside down make it more juicy? ›

tronzo last month revealed that the best way to make sure your pineapple is extra juicy and sweet is to store it upside down. Austin explains in the video that the best way to make your pineapple ripen faster is to remove the spiky leaves at the top with a twisting motion, then flip the pineapple on its head.

Does nothing bundt cakes have pineapple upside-down cake? ›

Nothing Bundt Cakes - Take a bite of our Pineapple Upside Down bundt cake and you'll instantly be reminded of your favorite tropical getaway. | Facebook.

What are the effects of pineapple upside-down cake? ›

Pineapple Upside Down Cake strain helps with
  • Stress. 21% of people say it helps with Stress.
  • 18% of people say it helps with Anxiety.
  • 17% of people say it helps with Depression.

How do I make sure my upside down cake doesn't stick? ›

Originally Answered: How do you keep pineapple upside down cake from sticking? You just have to spray the pan well with pan coating, after it comes out of the oven let it sit for about 5 - 10 mins to cool a bit and then run a knife along the edge of the pan and then put a large plate on it and flip it onto the plate.

Should you turn a cake halfway through baking? ›

In the test kitchen, we often recommend rotating cakes, pastries, and breads in the oven halfway through baking to promote even browning. (This is especially important because most ovens do not heat evenly.) But we don't generally recommended rotating delicate, airy cakes for fear that they will collapse.

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