This easy Pineapple Upside Down Cake from scratch is a retro dessert made with one bowl and a whisk! It has brown sugar caramelized pineapple rings, a moist vanilla cake and maraschino cherries.
Love warm fruit desserts? Try this Peach Crisp, Pineapple Crisp, Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp or my Grandma’s Hot Fudge Sundae Cake next.
Don’t tell anyone, but I’ll take a warm fruit dessert with ice cream over chocolate any day.
This classic Pineapple Upside Down Cake is based off of my Apple Upside Down Cake recipe, with the same classic, moist vanilla 8-9″ cake serving as the base.
It’s a simple stir and pour cake batter, which makes this Pineapple Upside Down Cake very quick and easy to throw together, but it looks like you spent a lot of time on it.
What people are saying
“This is quick, easy and delicious! I’ve made it about 4 times and each time it is great. I’m getting ready to make another right now!”
Pineapple Upside Down Cake variations:
- You can use almost any fruit in this Pineapple Upside Down Cake! Apples, berries, cranberries, bananas — so don’t be afraid to mix things up.
- Pineapple coconut combo: Stir some shredded coconut into the batter, or sprinkle it into the butter before adding your fruit. You could also add a bit of coconut extract to the batter!
How to make a Pineapple Upside Down Cake:
- Choose the right pan: opt for a round 8″ cake pan or pie plate for the best results. A springform pan could mean that lovely brown sugar sauce leaks out into the oven.
- Watch for signs of doneness: ever oven temperature differs a little, so the most important clues as to whether your cake is cooked through or not is the exterior color and is a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Don’t cool too long: we want to flip the cake out onto the plate before it gets too firm, otherwise we’ll be leaving that glorious caramelized pineapple layer behind!
How to store leftover cake:
You can store Pineapple Upside Down Cake at room temperature for several hours if you are serving soon after baking.
I recommend refrigerating the cake if you are not serving within a few hours, as the fruit and the extra moisture in the cake means that it will not last as long as regular cake and buttercream.
To make this cake ahead, you have two options:
- You can prepare up to the point of baking, then cover and refrigerate up to 2 days before baking.
- You can prepare and bake completely, but leave it in the pan. Cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze up to 3 days. To serve, thaw (if frozen), and warm in a 300 degree oven for 15-20 minutes just until heated through. Flip and serve.
More pineapple recipes you’ll love:
- Grilled Pineapple — another warm pineapple dessert, perfect with ice cream!
- Pineapple Cake — a simple one layer cake that never lasts long.
- Pineapple Smoothie — tropical and so refreshing!
- How to Cut a Pineapple — if you’re looking for more ways to use fresh pineapple, this tutorial is a must!
Easy Pineapple Upside Down Cake
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar, (70g)
- 6-7 slices pineapple
- 5 maraschino cherries
Cake
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup brown sugar, (70g)
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour, (125g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place butter in round 8" pan or pie plate and put in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350℉, allowing the butter to melt in the pan while warming.
- Remove the pan from the oven once the butter has melted. Stir in brown sugar (you can do this right in the pan!).
- Arrange pineapple slices and cherries on top of the butter mixture, as much or as little as you like.
Cake
- In a medium bowl, whisk together oil and sugar.
- Add applesauce, egg, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir just until combined. Spread carefully over pineapple in pan, making sure not to disturb the cherries as you spread the batter.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until top of the cake is golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan before running a knife carefully around the edge.
- Place a large round plate on top of the pan, flip and allow the cake to fall out onto the plate before removing the pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Mary says
This is quick, easy and delicious! I’ve made it about 4 times and each time it is great. I’m getting ready to make another right now!
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Mary! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for this review!
verna k kresse says
cake was awful!!!!!! What a waste of ingredients. The cake was about 1/4 inch thick and the topping overwhelmed the cake. I followed the recipe to the letter and reread it after I saw the results. I don’t reccomend it and wont make it again. I guess this mess will make a good ice cream topping.
The Recipe Rebel says
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with this recipe, Verna. It’s hard to know what went wrong without being in the kitchen with you. Myself and others have enjoyed it, so it wished it would of been a hit!
Steve says
Absolutely agree with this comment. And I’d add that if you do decide to try this recipe, switch the amounts of butter and brown sugar in the topping. It should be 1/4 cup butter to 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I’d also double the batter to give this pinapple upside down cake some actual cake
Steve says
not sure how my rating turned from a 1 to a 5 but trying to correct that now
Sonal Harite says
Any alternative to applesauce pls
Ashley Fehr says
You could sub with oil or plain yogurt
T says
How to make the pineapple and coconut cake
Ashley Fehr says
I’m not sure which you are referring to
Sarah Skeeters says
This was so, so easy to make! The kids and I loved it. We’ll definitely be trying this with peaches this summer.
Ashley Fehr says
That is such a great idea! I’m glad you liked it!
Cheryl Kehler says
I made this tonight for dessert and the cake batter was almost completely raw!! What did I do wrong?
Ashley Fehr says
I’m sorry to hear that Cheryl! I’m not sure how it could be raw after baking. If a smaller pan was used, you may need to bake a little longer, but it shouldn’t require more than a few extra minutes
Toni says
I really loved it! My family was so impressed!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Toni!
katerina @ diethood.com says
YUM! I would LOVE a slice of this amazing cake!!
Ashley Fehr says
thanks Katerina!
Jessica Formicola says
I made this cake yesterday and it turned out perfectly! There’s almost none left today because everyone enjoyed it so much!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Jessica! I’m so glad!
Chelsea says
This was sooo delicious and so quick and easy! We are obsessed! Thanks for sharing!
Ashley Fehr says
thanks Chelsea!
Chrissy says
I’ve had some extra canned pineapple lying around so I was searching for a good cake to make – this one was delicious. We’re not fans of maraschino cherries so we left those off, but otherwise made as is! Yum.
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Chrissy! I’m so happy to hear that!