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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Homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake
I love this 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.
I think it would be a perfect cake for Easter, Mother’s Day, baby and bridal showers, brunch, or anytime you want a cheery, sunny, happy 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.
While baking, the pineapple caramelizes in a butter and brown sugar bath, giving the pineapple upside down cake its signature glistening top and adding so much rich, browned butter flavor to the pineapple.
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
Tip
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.
Here’s how the homemade pineapple upside down cake is made:
- 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. My pet peeve about most pineapple upside-down cakes is that there’s not enough pineapple if you keep the rings whole and intact. The focus of a pineapple upside-down cake should be on the pineapple, so I tried to maximize the pineapple coverage on top by using a fanning technique.
- 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. And honestly, inverting cakes gives me sweaty palms every time and I was stalling. Because of how buttery the topping is, the pan is so well-greased that the cake just plopped right out. Not even one slice of pineapple or cherry out of order.
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.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake 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!
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.
I don’t think layering pineapple upside down cake is a good idea. This cake is incredibly moist and heavy, and I think if you tried to make two layers and stack them on top of each other the entire cake would fall apart.
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.
Full-fat sour cream makes for the best homemade pineapple upside down cake, but lite sour cream may be used in its place. You can also use plain Greek yogurt, but note that regular yogurt won’t work (it’s too runny).
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!
No, you need real buttermilk to help this cake rise properly. You can use the leftover pineapple juice in the can in cocktails, smoothies, and more though!
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.
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.
Since this is such a moist cake that’s loaded with fruit, I do not recommend freezing it.
Tips for the Best Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Make sure you are using a good quality springform pan that you know is reliable. From time to time, people write to me saying their springform pan leaked, butter went all over, and they get upset with me. This is not my fault, peeps. It’s your pan that leaked. The solution?
Test your pan with water in it. Does it leak? If so, it will probably leak with the melted butter in it. Don’t make this pineapple upside down cake from scratch until you have a pan you trust, simple as that.
What’s the best springform pan? This is the 9-inch springform pan I currently use and I have never had it leak with this cake.
I have, however, had it leak when I quickly (and I was half asleep) put it together and sealed the latch carelessly. I do recommend it and it’s been a workhorse with other cakes over the years. I bought it in 2015 and it still looks and works as good as new.
Note that you should wind up with just enough cake batter to fill the 9-inch springform pan 3/4 full. If you somehow wind up with a little extra batter, it’s better to discard it than overfill the cake pan.
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The Best Pineapple Upside Down Cake
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.
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:
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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
Thank you for your reply……Your cake is just beautiful, I have never seen one so lovely… It not only looks great but taste even better, it is so good.
Thank you for your reply……Your cake is just beautiful, I have never seen one so lovely… It not only looks great but taste even better, it is so good.
Thank you so much!!
Thank you for this lovely cake……It is so good. My whole family loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake and this one is a big hit.
The only changed I made was to put 3 TBSP of Caramel Sauce over the Pineapple before I put the batter on. It is very good with the Caramel too.
Thank you for this lovely cake……It is so good. My whole family loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake and this one is a big hit.
The only changed I made was to put 3 TBSP of Caramel Sauce over the Pineapple before I put the batter on. It is very good with the Caramel too.
I am glad you loved the cake and I am sure the caramel sauce was a great touch!
I tried this recipe with quite a few modifications and it turned out quite nicely. I made it gluten free.
I substituted the regular flour with gluten free self raising flour.
I used fresh pineapple instead of canned
I didnt have a springform tin that didnt leak, so i used a silicone cake tin instead.
it was a very nice recipe thank you. if i had followed everything 100% im sure it would have been beyond perfect
I tried this recipe with quite a few modifications and it turned out quite nicely. I made it gluten free.
I substituted the regular flour with gluten free self raising flour.
I used fresh pineapple instead of canned
I didnt have a springform tin that didnt leak, so i used a silicone cake tin instead.
it was a very nice recipe thank you. if i had followed everything 100% im sure it would have been beyond perfect
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it worked out well with your modifications, including most notably for me, GF flour!
Attempted to make this in a spring form pan. Came out, but the pineapple stuck a bit. I can see why people are saying it’s a bit gooey or raw on the top. Though mine didn’t come out raw, the brown sugar onglaze on the top didn’t come out crispy. I believe it’s from putting the spring form pan on a baking sheet. As far as the flavor of the cake, it’s a little lack luster to me.
I will try again, in a normal pan and see if it works out better.
WOW !! I made it yesterday for my 4th of July celebration and my guests kept coming back for more !! What a DELICIOUS cake, I can’t wait to make again !!! I MEAN THAT ! Thanks again for yet another grade A recipe from you !
I am so glad to hear your guests kept going back for more and that this turned out so deliciously!
If my springform pan leaks with water inside it, can I solve this with aluminum foil or parchment paper?
I guess it would depend on how bad it’s leaking and your ability to not care if you go to the work of making the cake and then if your pan failed on you, would you be okay with that? I would be livid. I would personally buy a new pan before going to the work of making the cake so I was sure it would turn out.
I double the butter and sugar and use a 12″ cast iron skillet. The “glaze” almost goes through the entire cake somehow and my cake is taller. I also make a vanilla-nutmeg sauce to go over the cake. Talk about food porn.
How did it come out ? I had used a 10″ pan but it is not spring form pan 😠I have it in the oven now
Hi
I wanted to know if there’s a fair portion of cake because in the picture up top it looks like very little cake and more toppings. I would like to make it for thanksgiving but I want to make sure it’s enough cake, because dealing with my family they criticize everything. Help
The cake itself is not a ‘tall’ cake. It would depend on how many people you’re serving. If you have more than 8-10 then you’d want to also make another dessert is my rec.
First time making this cake, when I combined wet with dry ingredients, batter was very lumpy and did not want to overmix. The cake has come out flat with very little rise, ( I didn’t forget baking powder). I have yet to taste, but I can see lumps in the cake. Where did I go wrong?
Do you Add the water as the Recipe shows? The video does not have the water added. Thank you.
I don’t understand your question. There is no water in this recipe.
Only add water if you use the powder buttermilk.
I am so making this cake ! could i omit the oil the recipe calls for and use a substitute of any other type ?
No
Can I use pineapple juice to replace the buttermilk? If so would it still be the same amount – 1/2 cup? If can do this – would the rest of the ingredients and directions stay the same?
I really don’t know. I have only made it as written and don’t know what will happen if you change things up.
Yes you can I’ve made it like that same amount & add a splash of Lemon Juice or Apple Cider Vinegar any acid it interacts with the Baking Powder & makes it rise more.Makes it fluffier too.
Yes you can use Applesauce & mayo for the eggs 1 dollop size like an egg.Also really simple get a box of yellow cake mix follow instructions for the pineapple upside down part then follow directions on box of cake mix.It’s the easiest way.If you google what to substitute in recipes that will help you out.I’ve made this before both this recipe & different variations.Also you can use other fruits I’ve even used Fruit Cocktail get the Sugar Free drain the juice b/c to me it’s way too sweet if you get the Fruit cocktail in heavy syrup.I’ve also added Cinnamon,Nutmeg,& Ginger to the batter really good.Sprinkle in to your desired taste do this before adding the eggs to taste the batter to make sure it’s up to your liking.
You can, technically. I’ve used avocado oil, melted shortening and coconut oil. The only oil that slightly altered the texture was the coconut oil, but that makes sense. Coconut oil firms at cooler temps. Canola and vegetable are best though, because they are flavorless, unlike stronger oils such as olive. They also do not firm up at cooler temps.
Will regular 9″ cake pans work?
No, not deep enough.
I actually made the cake this morning and I replaced the 1 egg with 1/4 homemade applesauce and added a little of the pineapple juice and it came out beautifully. Lovely recipe and soooooooo easy and quick!!!
Is there anyway that I can make this eggless without losing the moisture and leavening power from the egg? Thanks.
I have never experimented doing this so I really can’t say.
I actually made the cake this morning and I replaced the 1 egg with 1/4 homemade applesauce and added a little of the pineapple juice and it came out beautifully. Lovely recipe and soooooooo easy and quick!!!
Thanks for the five star review and glad that your changes worked out great for you!