Brown sugar and butter create a rich, caramel glaze that coats juicy pineapple rings, maraschino cherries and a golden-brown cake—what’s not to love? But the true secret to this cake’s beauty is in the “flip” that happens when you remove it from the oven. It might sound intimidating, but it’s so much easier than you think! The result is a picture-perfect upside-down pineapple cake made from scratch.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 7 slices pineapple in juice (from 20-oz can), drained (save juice)
- pecan halves
- 7 maraschino cherries without stems, if desired
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp juice from pineapple
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour or cake flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
- Heat oven to 350°F. In 10-inch skillet, melt butter in oven. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices over brown sugar. Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice. Sprinkle pecan halve around.
- In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.
- Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately place heatproof serving plate upside down over pan; turn plate and pan over. Leave pan over cake a few minutes so brown sugar mixture can drizzle over cake; remove pan. Serve warm. Store cake loosely covered.
HISTORY
One of the earliest mentions of upside down pineapple cake is in a 1925 Gold Medal™ Flour ad, which featured a golden-brown cake with pineapple slices, cherries and a brown sugar glaze. The cake was a modern marvel because it relied on the recently introduced innovation of canned pineapple rings and preserved maraschino cherries.
While it’s been around for a long time, a good cake never goes out of style, so it’s no surprise that Betty’s classic Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe is still going strong after decades of popularity. And what’s not to like? Buttery cake gets baked on top of a layer of pineapple slices and cherries in a brown sugar-butter mixture, and when it gets flipped over after baking (it’s easier than you think!), the sweet syrup infuses the pineapple upside down cake with extra flavor. We love this cake so much that we’ve concocted a collection of pineapple upside-down cake recipes.
Vintage Betty Crocker Page
Vintage Betty Crocker Recipe
- ⅓ cup butter
- ½ cup butter sugar (packed)
- 1 can sliced pineapple, drained (crushed may be used if well drained)
- 1½ cups of all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- ⅓ cup soft shortening
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ tsp. lemon flavoring, if desired
- 1 egg (1/4 to ⅓ cup)
- ¾ cup milk
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in heavy 10" skillet, or pour melted butter in 9x9 pan or 10" cake pan.
- Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter.
- Arrange pineapple in attractive pattern on the butter-sugar coating.
- Decorate with pecan halves and cherries if desired.
- Measure flower by dip-level-pour method or by sifting.
- Stir flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in mixer bowl.
- Add shortening, milk flavorings.
- Beat 2 minutes on medium speed in mixer or 300 vigorous strokes by hand.
- Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl constantly.
- Add egg.
- Beat 2 more minutes, scraping bowl frequently.
- Pour batter over fruit.
- Bake 40 to 50 minutes.
- Immediately turn upside down on serving plate.
- Leave pan over cake a few minutes.
- Serve warm with whipped cream
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