Pineapple Upside-Down Bundt Cake
This recipe is light, moist and easy to throw together from the contents of your pantry. A bundt pan makes the perfect vessel for this pineapple upside-down cake, topped with cherries for a retro classic which is sure to please.
Why am I Serving Pineapple Upside-Down Cake at Christmas?
As you may notice from the slap-dash photography and the festive tablecloth, this particular upside down cake was thrown together last minute on Christmas day. We arrived back from vacation just before Christmas and everything was charmingly last minute. Sometimes over-preparation taints the family spirit of the holidays, and I decided I would just dig through the pantry and see what I could find.
Canned pineapple and maraschino cherries were found, but with only two eggs remaining in the fridge I wasn’t sure if I could bring it all together. Everything worked out wonderfully in the end, and despite not having time to take fancy photographs, I wanted to make note of the recipe before I forgot. So here we go: Pineapple upside-down bundt cake.
History of Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
When I think of pineapple upside down cake, I think of a family dinner straight out of the 1970s. However, this crowd pleaser was around some time before this, the earliest records of it dating back to the mid 1920s. Originally named ‘Pineapple Glace’, this sponge would be sure to impress due to the exoticness of pineapple at the time and the novelty of its upside down nature. By 1925 it had become so popular that when the Hawaiian Pineapple Company sponsored a competition for pineapple recipes, it received 2,500 submission of pineapple upside-down cake alone.
As pineapple became more commonplace through the decades, pineapple upside-down cake became a family favorite, peaking in popularity around mid century. Traditionally it is not made as a bundt cake, but inside appears as a standard round sponger with pineapples rings on the top, each with a cherry in the center.
Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 10 tbs (140g) unsalted butter (room temp)
- 1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar
- 1/2 can (300g) pineapple chunks
- 8 maraschino cherries
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream (or half cream cheese, half milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Take 4 tbs (1/4 cup or 60g) of the butter and melt, leaving the rest aside for later. Pour into the bottom of a 10″ bundt pan and sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the butter in an even layer.
- Place the maraschino cherries on top of the sugar, place evening around the loop of the bundt pan. Then surround the cherries with pineapple chunks, pressing into the mold of the bundt pan.
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer, cream the remaining butter and granulated sugar until lightened in color, then add the eggs. Beat the mixture until combined and then add the sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet, slowly mixing as you go. once combined, add the milk slowly until all ingredients are combined into a smooth batter.
- Pour batter over fruit layer in bundt cake pan and bake for 45mins until golden. Test if the cake is cooked by inserting a toothpick: if it comes out clean, all the batter is cooked.
- Remove cake from oven and cool for around 15mins. Slide a round ended knife around the edge of the pan to free the sponge from any sticking at the top surface due to bubbling sugar. Place plate over the top of the bundt pan and turn over, releasing the cake from the pan.
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