The Best Pineapple Upside-Down Cake — 🍍🧡😋 So soft, moist, and really is the best! A cheery, happy cake that’s sure to put a smile on anyone’s face! This 100% from-scratch cake is an EASY reader favorite you’re going to love!
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I love this easy scratch cake because it’s fast and easy to make, and it always turn out supremely moist, springy, and fluffy thanks to the buttermilk, sour cream, and oil. That trifecta of moisturizing and tenderizing ingredients makes it impossible to have a dry cake.
Not to mention, the buttery, brown sugary pineapple juice that seeps down into the cake from the slices on top make the cake so soft, moist, and buttery that it just melts in your mouth.
The cake is soft, sweet, with an almost imperceptible tang from the buttermilk that adds another layer of flavor. The pineapple slices add chewiness and texture to the otherwise falling-apart-soft crumb.
There’s no better way to get your Vitamin C than via pineapple baked in it’s own brown sugar-browned butter sauce!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake Ingredients
To make this easy pineapple upside down cake, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Canned pineapple slices
- Maraschino cherries
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Canola oil
- Vanilla extract
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
Ingredient Swaps
You must use each of these ingredients as they’re listed. Substitutions like whole wheat flour or an alternative sweetener may result in a less than stellar upside down cake.
How to Make Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Making pineapple upside down cake from scratch is so easy! First you’ll arrange the pineapple-cherry topping, then you’ll prepare the cake batter.
- Arrange the pineapple-cherry topping: I used one 20-ounce can pineapple slices. I kept one slice whole for the center of the cake, and then fanned 12 halves around it. I used the remaining 3 slices (6 halves) to line the sides of the pan. Nobody likes bald sides.
- Make the cake batter: After getting the pineapple and cherries in the pan, whisk together the cake batter and turn it out into the pan. I filled my 9-inch round cake pan about 3/4-inch full with batter.
- Let the cake cool before flipping: I made the cake before bed and let it cool overnight in the pan with a sheet of foil over it. There’s no big rush to get it out of the pan. Because of how buttery the topping is, the pan is so well-greased that the cake just plopped right out.
Baking Tip
Although the cake doesn’t rise a ton, it’s still a cake and rises some, so don’t exceed about 3/4-full, the same idea as when filling a muffin tin. Discard the last bit of batter if need be. I mention this because all cake pans, the exact amount of pineapple, cherries, etc will vary slightly.
Baking FAQs
No, regular round cake pans aren’t deep enough. You also can’t use a 9-inch square baking pan for this. You have to use a 9-inch round springform pan, otherwise this homemade pineapple upside down cake recipe won’t turn out right.
I recommend making this easy pineapple upside down cake in this 9-inch springform pan. This is the exact pan I use at home and it works every time! However, readers have told me it’s often out of stock. In that case, I suggest this comparable 9-inch springform pan.
I haven’t tried that before because I just don’t have the patience for it! So unfortunately I can’t tell you if this recipe can be made as cupcakes.
Yes, you just have to be precise with your arrangement of the pineapple upside down cake topping in the bundt pan before you add the cake batter. The bake time may need to be altered slightly, so watch the oven and not the clock.
I’ve only ever used canned pineapple rings so I can’t say for sure whether fresh pineapple would work in place of canned. Most likely yes, but please let me know if you try this and it works out!
If possible, get your hands on real buttermilk. If that’s not possible, you can try making a buttermilk substitute (for every 1 cup of milk, mix in 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar). If you have to make a buttermilk substitute, you should use 2% or whole milk for the best results.
Time! The cake needs time to cool in the pan (at LEAST 30 minutes, but preferably overnight) before it’s safe to invert it onto a plate. As the cake cools, the pineapple on the bottom (soon to be the top!) firms up, the sugars set to create a caramel-y sauce, and the cake itself sets.
If your cake turned out mushy, you likely didn’t drain the pineapple and cherries well enough.
Absolutely! In fact, making it a day in advance means the cake will pop out of the cake pan so much easier when you’re ready to invert it.
Melted butter! The butter gets added to the bottom of the pan before all of the toppings are arranged. The sugar and butter caramelize in the oven, but there’s enough butter that the cake should pop right out of the pan once cool.
Storage Instructions
Room temp: You can store the cake at room temperature for up to five days. Cover the pan with foil. The cake will stay super moist thanks to the juicy topping.
In the freezer: Since this is such a moist cake that’s loaded with fruit, I do not recommend freezing it.
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve made it about 5 times and follow the recipe exactly and every time it turns out perfectly. Everyone enjoys it and now requests it. Excellent cake!
Jamie
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The Best Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- one 20-ounce can pineapple slices
- about 12 maraschino cherries
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk, or Powdered Buttermilk, use 2 tablespoons with the dry ingredients + 1/2 cup water added with the wet
- ⅓ cup sour cream, lite is okay (plain Greek yogurt may be substituted)
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Pour the butter into a 9-inch springform cake pan. Use your finger to run a bit of butter around the side of the pan so it’s well-greased.
- Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter.
- Add 1 whole pineapple slice to the center of the pan.
- Halve the remaining slices vertically. Stagger them in a fan-like fashion going around the cake. I used 12 slices.
- Place the remaining slices around the sides of the cake pan with the curved side pointing down toward the bottom of the pan (see photos for reference). There will likely be bare side patches with no pineapple coverage, that’s okay.
- Place 1 cherry in the center of the whole pineapple slice in the middle of the pan.
- Place 1 cherry in the center cutout of all the fanned pineapple slices; set pan aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, optional salt; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the next 5 wet ingredients (through vanilla).
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Small lumps will be present, don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth.
- Gently turn batter out into prepared pan, being careful to not disturb the pineapple slices on the sides or bottom. Fill pan only to about 3/4-full. If you have a little extra batter, discard it rather than overfilling your pan.
- Place pan on a cookie sheet (to catch anything that does overflow) and bake for about 40 minutes, or until center is set and not jiggly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Only go down about 1-inch with the toothpick, not all the way to the bottom where you’ll hit gooey pineapple juice.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before inverting, slicing, and serving. I allowed cake to cool overnight, covered with a sheet of foil, before inverting.
Video
Notes
- Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Cake base adapted from Blueberry Muffin and Buttermilk Pancakes Cake.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Pineapple Desserts:
Layered Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – A tender and moist classic two-layer carrot cake with tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting!
Pineapple Coconut Oil Banana Bread — Banana bread spiked with pineapple and coconut oil that’s so good!
Hummingbird Cake — A super SOFT and moist cake with bananas, pineapple, coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans!! Makes a huge cake that’ll feed a crowd!
Pineapple Poke Cake With Pineapple Glaze — A pineapple version of a poke cake with a pineapple glaze that you’ll adore!
Tropical Escape Pineapple Crumble Bars — Soft, tender bars that have a great crumble topping that will remind you of the tropics!
Angel Pineapple Lush Parfaits — This is a 4-ingredient, no-bake dessert that’s ridiculously easy, you don’t need a mixer, and you don’t have to turn your oven on.
Pineapple Coconut Bars — Eat your piña colada rather than drinking one with these fast, EASY, no-mixer bars that taste TROPICAL!! Pineapple, coconut, white chocolate, and cherries!!
Recipe originally from March 2014 and reprinted in May 2018
It’s in the oven now, looking and smelling great! Question: could this be made gluten free with a different flour?
I have only made it with all purpose so I’m not sure but if you were to try it I would use one of the gluten-free blends that’s a one for one replacement with normal flour.
O-M-G!!! This cake is amazing! Love It, really. Thanks for sharing this recipe. 😍 🍍
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad you love the cake!
I have made this about 10 times now, so I can say with certainty that this recipe is an absolute hit! My father-in-law requests it every year as a Christmas gift, and I make it whenever I am in a pinch and would like to give a homemade treat as a gift. Thank you for the wonderful recipe, Avery!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that this is an annual Christmas gift for your FIL and that you give it to others as a homemade treat!
I made this tonight and it was seriously the best pineapple upside-down cake I’ve ever had. We could not get enough of it! Thanks for the recipe and we’ll definitely be making this many more times!
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad that it was the best pineapple upside-down cake you’ve ever had!
My “go-to” pineapple upside down cake! I’ve made this a few times now and I love how delicious it is and how beautiful it looks. This is my husband’s uncle’s favorite type of cake and I make it for his birthday when he’s around. Always a hit!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad this is a family favorite that you’ve made multiple times already!
Absolutely wonderful. Very moist. I cut down the sugar a bit. I will definitely bake this again
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that you’ll make it again!
Never done a review for anything before – but this cake is amazing. I’ve made a bunch of different upside down cakes in the past, and this certainly wins the award!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that this cake wins the award for upside down cakes!
So it’s my turn to make a comment. I tried the recipe today and I have to say, after hunting for the perfect recipe for the past month, I decided to stop right here, because after the reading all the positive reviews, I said to myself, this must be THE ONE! My hubby’s birthday is tomorrow and this is his favourite dessert. Well let’s just say, the cake will not last till tomorrow since it’s already halfway gone. It came out perfect! And this is even though I substituted half of the buttermilk for the pineapple juice and I used mayonnaise instead of sour cream because I didn’t have any. Yes mayo…I use mayo in my chocolate cakes. It’s a magic ingredient that makes it nice and moist. And no, you don’t taste it. Anyway…I have since received two orders for later this month so this is the recipe I will be sticking with. Thanks Averie!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you decided that this was The One for your hubby’s bday tomorrow! I use mayo sometimes in a pinch too. After all it’s really just oil and eggs, can’t hurt in a cake :)
Thank you so much. I made the cake this afternoon. It is for a party so I will have until tomorrow to taste it.
It is helpful to wrap the bottom of the springform pan to avoid leaking.
Thanks for the five star review and I hope it’s a hit at your party!
I really want to try this cake tonight but I have no yogurt or sour cream – which I usually keep on hand for baking, is there anything else I can use in its placce 😥
I would wait to make it until you have one or the other.
This cake is amazing! The recipe was easy to follow and it came out just as pictured.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was a hit for you and that it was easy and came out just as pictured!
I have been craving Pineapple Upside Down cake ever since it popped up in a conversation with my Aunt last month. I’m so grateful I happened upon your recipe and website. I made it with what I had on hand and I must say, it turned out AMAZING. Better than any other I’ve tasted. My 2 subs, only because I was limited to what I had on hand, were Kefir instead of buttermilk, and coconut oil. Had no springform pan, so used cast iron skillet. Delicious! Thank you so much. Will make this again and again.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you loved this cake! Glad the kefir and coconut oil did the trick. I can actually see coconut oil being amazing in this cake. Coconut + pineapple + cherries = essentially a pina colada (cake) !
I wasn’t sure about your directions on the buttermilk. If I use just regular buttermilk, do I also add half a cup of water? Going to make it for my hubby’s Birthday. Thanks!
If you’re using real buttermilk just use 1/2 cup real buttermilk, no water.
My 9 year old daughter made this recipe with me for my birthday cake and it was AMAZING! The only swap we made was using a 2″ deep cake pan (9″) since our springform pan was leaking out the butter. Still turned out perfect and was even better the next day!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it worked out in a 9×2-inch round cake pan!
Has anyone doubled this recipe and used a sheet cake baking dish? Need to feed a crowd.
Very easy and VERY DELICIOUS! Highly recommended!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it turned out great for you!