Perfect Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipes

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
• Pour 1/4 cup melted butter into an ungreased 9×2 inch pie dish or round cake pan. (Make sure the pan is 2 inches deep. I recommend this pie dish, which is 1.8 inches deep but I never have an overflow issue.) Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Blot any excess liquid off the fruit with a clean towel or paper towel. (The wetter the fruit, the more likely the cake could overflow or the topping could seep over the sides when inverted.) Arrange about 6-7 blotted pineapple slices and all the cherries on top of the brown sugar. I like to halve 3 pineapple rings and arrange them around the sides of the pan, too. See my photo and video above for a visual of the arranged topping. Place pan in the refrigerator for a few minutes as you prepare the cake batter. This helps solidify or "set" the topping's arrangement.
• Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until creamed together, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. On high speed, beat in the egg whites until combined, then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Turn the mixer onto low speed and as the mixer runs, slowly pour in the pineapple juice and milk. Beat on low speed just until all of the ingredients are combined. Do not over-mix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
• Remove topping from the refrigerator. Pour and spread cake batter evenly over topping.
• Bake for 43-48 minutes, tenting foil on top of the cake halfway through bake time to prevent the top from over-browning before the center has a chance to fully cook. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean- a couple moist crumbs are OK. Don't be alarmed if your cake takes longer or if the cake rises up and sticks to the foil. (We serve the cake upside down anyway!)
• 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. I find it's best to cool the cake completely at room temperature before slicing and serving. Do not refrigerate the cake to speed up the cooling process because it could end up tasting overly dense.
• Cover leftover slices and store for up to 3 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature. I don't recommend freezing the cake as a whole because the topping arrangement doesn't thaw very nicely. See make ahead instructions below.

PERFECT PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 inch cake pan. To make the topping combine the brown sugar and melted butter in a small bowl. Spread on the bottom of your 9 inch cake pan. Arrange the pineapple slices along the bottom of the pan and along the rim. Add cherries to the center of pineapple and in between pineapple slices.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another medium sized mixing bowl with a hand mixer combine the softened butter and sugars and beat until incorporated. Add in the egg, sour cream, milk and pineapple juice and beat until just combined. Add in the flour mixture.
• Spread evenly on top of the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean.

EASY PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). In 13x9-inch pan, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice, and arrange remaining cherries around slices; press gently into brown sugar.
• Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to measure 1 cup. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
• Bake 42 to 48 minutes (44 to 53 minutes for dark or nonstick pan) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator.

LAYERED PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease the bottom and sides of two 9-inch round, 1 1/2-inch tall cake pans.
• Combine brown sugar and butter for topping in a saucepan over medium heat; stir until sugar dissolves and mixture is bubbly, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Pour mixture into one of the prepared cake pans. Arrange pineapple rings in a single layer on top.
• Whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt for cake in a large mixing bowl. Beat sugar and butter in a separate bowl with an electric mixer until creamy and light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream in two additions each, beating well after each addition.
• Pour 1/2 of the cake batter over the caramel and pineapple topping. Pour remaining cake batter into the second cake pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let sit in the pans for 5 minutes. Turn the cake without the topping layer onto a serving platter. Turn the cake with the topping layer on top of that. Serve warm.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• For the topping, beat 50g softened butter and 50g light soft brown sugar together until creamy. Spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 20cm round cake tin. Arrange 7 pineapple rings on top (reserving the syrup for later), then place 7 glacé cherries in the centres of the rings.
• Place 100g softened butter, 100g golden caster sugar, 100g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 eggs in a bowl along with 2 tbsp of the reserved pineapple syrup. Using an electric whisk, beat to a soft consistency.
• Spoon into the tin on top of the pineapple and smooth it out so it's level. Bake for 35 mins. Leave to stand for 5 mins, then turn out onto a plate. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.