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Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Upside-down cakes were developed centuries ago when much of the cooking was done in cast- iron skillets. Cake batter was poured on top of fruit and sugar and placed over an open fire to cook. To get the cake out, it was easiest to just flip the whole thing upside down! Pineapple upside-down cake was particularly popular during the ’50s and ’60s since it was such a pretty, colorful cake to show off to guests.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Chilling Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8-10 1x
- Category: Bakery
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 (20-ounce) can pineapple slices (about 8 slices)
- 17 maraschino cherries
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave, about 1 minute. Pour the melted butter into a 9-inch round cake pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Place 5 whole pineapple slices in the pan. (See photo.) Halve 2 slices of pineapple and place them between the whole slices. Place 1 cherry in the center of each whole pineapple slice, each half slice center cutout, and in between the whole and half slices.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, egg, oil, vanilla, and rum extract. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture, folding in with a spatula just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Carefully pour the batter over the pineapple, filling about 3/4 full. Place the pan on a baking sheet to catch any drips.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is set and golden. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Invert the pan onto a serving plate. Slice and serve.
