A friend’s birthday inspired me in my latest baking adventure: Pineapple upside down bundt cake. Never eaten one before, so after a lot of research, I dove in.
Two things to mention: you could make the cake batter from scratch. But if you’re reading this blog, your life is probably as busy as mine, so my directions recommend using a yellow cake mix. Second, I used fresh cherries because those were all I could find. Didn’t seem to make much of a difference from the standard Maraschino syrup soaked ones, taste wise.
Ingredients
Pineapple slices (6-8, depending on what pan you’re using, more for larger flat pans)
2 tbps butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 box yellow, vanilla, or pineapple cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Pineapple juice (if you want to up the pineapple flavor in the cake batter)
cherries, one to go in the middle or each pineapple slice (fresh or canned)
Directions
Make the cake mix as directed on the box. Most of them will ask for 1 1.5 cups of water. This is where you can substitute the pineapple juice, if you are using some.
Melt the butter, and grease the bottom of the cake pan. Grease all of it if you’re worried the cake might stick (as I did with butter spray). Scatter the brown sugar evenly around the bottom. This will make a sugary brown glaze on the top when you flip it out and also trickle down the sides to make it extra yummy.
Place the pineapple slices into the pan. you can balance them on the edges of the lower pieces if using a curved pan like the bundt style. As you’ll see in the photo, I cut the lowest slices in half to go around the funnel.
Place stemless cherries in the center of each ring. Pour the batter in. Cover all the slices as they will embed into the cooked cake.
Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Wait 10 minutes. Slide a knife around the insides. Then flip over in one go (or it will break). Don’t wait too long or the top will get stuck in the brown sugar glaze.
Refrigerate until you serve. The fruit will get heavier with time so keep that in mind.