Pineapple Upside Down Cake
This classic cake, with its moist, flavorful topping of pineapple rings and cherries (nuts optional), has been an American favorite for at least 90 years. It became popular after an early 20th-century Dole engineer invented a machine that would slice that company's signature product — pineapple — into perfect rings; the first recipe appeared in print in 1923.
This particular recipe, baked in a 9" round cake pan, makes a thin layer of cake topped with perfectly spaced pineapple rings. Baking in an 8" pan would yield a taller cake, but the rings would be crowded together. Either way, the cake is buttery, brown sugary, and VERY tasty.
Ingredients
Topping
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 20-ounce can pineapple rings in juice, drained
- candied red cherries or maraschino cherries
- pecans or walnuts, halves or diced; optional
Cake
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor, optional
- 1 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9" round cake pan.
- To make the topping: Melt the butter, and mix with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Space the pineapple rings atop the brown sugar mixture. Place a cherry in the center of each ring. If you're using nuts, scatter them in any empty spaces.
- To make the cake: Beat the butter and sugar until fairly smooth.
- Beat in the egg, then the salt, baking powder, vanilla, and coconut flavor.
- Add the flour alternately with the milk, mixing at medium speed and beginning and ending with the flour. Once the last of the flour is added, mix briefly, just until smooth.
- Spoon the thick batter into the prepared pan, spreading it to the edges of the pan. It may not cover the pineapple entirely; that's OK.
- Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven, wait 3 minutes, then turn the pan over onto a serving plate. Wait 30 seconds, then lift the pan off. If anything sticks in the pan, just lift it out and place it back on the cake.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
Tips from our bakers
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Reviews
This is the best pineapple upside down cake I've ever had! I also used a cast iron skillet. It came out perfectly! If I could attach a photo, you'd see how it came out picture perfect, as well! Thank you, King Arthur Flour, for the great recipes and products!
A cast iron skillet works best for this cake. I also used pecans halves and halved, canned pricots instead of maraschino cherries.
I had a sweet tooth. I Made this,and was not disappointed.
Made this for my husband's birthday cake and everyone loved it! It was very simple and turned out great!
Not bad. Light flavor not too sweet which I appreciate but it tasted more like bread than cake. I wonder why? Perhaps I did something wrong. I will enjoy it with some tea though. ThanksFrancisca, if you'd like more flavor in your cake, you can certainly increase the ginger, vanilla, or coconut flavor by a bit without affecting the texture of the cake too much. If the texture was less fluffy and cakey than you were expecting, you might also have used too much flour, which often occurs when using volume to measure ingredients instead of weight. Too much flour would also result in a lighter, milder flavor. We recommend using a scale to measure and seeing if that helps with both the flavor and texture, then adjusting any flavors and spices from there. Happy baking! Kat@KAF
Fantastic recipe! Love it! Thank you for your recipes, your advices and your passion! I made your sourdough bread recipe as well and it is soo good!
Great recipe, the ginger really kicks it up a notch. I've only used 9" cake pans for this, could it be done in cast iron in a preheated oven?We think it's worth a try, Jordan! Keep an eye on it as it could bake a little faster. You want the cake to reach 210°F in the center. Annabelle@KAF
Excellent recipe!. I followed as it is except by the coconut flavor and I also added 1/2 cup pineapple juice and pineapple pieces (yes I wanted the extra pineapple flavor in my cake). Also the 35 minutes where not enough for my cake to be ready, for me it was like 40-45 minutes. I think it depends a lot on your oven, the pan you're using an even the humidity leve in the place you live. I totally recommend this recipe!!!!.
Followed this recipe exactly. However the time of 30-35 min is not enough. Half of my cake was still batter. I was afraid if I put it in longer the cake would burn or become dry. The taste was still good if half my cake wasn't batter...We're genuinely surprised to hear your cake wasn't done within about 35 minutes, Chelsea, as we've found this to be about the right amount of baking time in the test kitchen and in other bakers' home kitchens. It's possible that the pan you used required a different baking time (especially if you were using glass or stoneware/ceramic), or that your oven is running low. You might consider checking it with an external thermometer to ensure it's true to temperature.
We also encourage you to follow your baking instincts and always feel like you can extend or tweak the baking time if you notice that your baked goods aren't cooked all the way through. With an upside-down cake, it can be difficult to test for doneness, but you can try inserting a sharp knife into the center of the cake (don't press down into the fruit). If the knife comes out clean, it's done. We hope these tips help make your future bakes more successful. Happy baking! Kye@KAF
This turned out good still with using fresh pineapple slices, no cherries and no coconut flavor, still delicious. A nice white cake that tasted great off the spoon.
