A high altitude pineapple upside down cake, made with sweet pineapple slices baked in a rich brown sugar and butter sauce, topped with moist vanilla cake and decorated with pecans.
You might also love these recipes for pecan upside down cake, hummingbird cake, and classic carrot cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy, Simple and Modestly Sized. Pineapple upside down cake is quick and easy to make with little fuss and no mixer needed. And this one layer pineapple cake recipe makes just enough to serve for dessert without too much leftover.
Soft, Moist and Sweet. With the moist, buttery vanilla cake, sweet pineapple and gooey butter and brown sugar syrup, this cake is hard to resist.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Pineapple. You’ll need canned pineapple slices (a 20 ounce can). The slices are shaped like rings, with a hole in the middle, and look the prettiest for an upside down cake. Be sure to get pineapple in juice, not syrup. To use up the juice from the can, I reduced it to a syrup to brush over the baked cake, which adds more moisture and pineapple flavor.
- Butter and Brown Sugar. While there’s butter and sugar in the cake batter, you’ll be adding some directly to the pineapple slices, too. This adds a sweet, slightly gooey layer at the bottom of the cake, which is then flipped over to become the top of the cake after it’s baked.
- Pecans. I decided to forego the usual maraschino cherries in the center of the pineapple rings, which is a pretty typical way to add more color to the top of the cake. Instead, I decorated my cake with pecans. Pecans complement pineapple so nicely, and the crushed pecans sprinkled around the pineapple slices really highlight their natural honeycomb pattern, which is just so pretty for spring or for an Easter dessert.
Instructions
Getting Ready
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Grease a 9 inch round cake pan pan with non-stick baking spray and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper, too.
Pineapple Layer
- Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice for later. Arrange the pineapple slices in the bottom of the pan. You can fit 7 slices in a 9 inch round pan, but if you’re making this recipe in a 9×9 square pan, you can fit 9 slices.
- Sprinkle the pineapple with the brown sugar, and then drizzle with the 4 tablespoons melted butter.
Cake Batter
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, milk and sour cream, and whisk into a thick batter.
- Spread the batter evenly over the pineapple.
Bake
- Bake for about 50-60 minutes, until a sharp knife or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, pour the reserved pineapple juice from the can into a small saucepan – you should have about 3/4 cup of juice. Over medium heat, bring the juice to a boil, then simmer until the juice has reduced to 1/3 cup. Set aside.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a plate or cake pedestal, so that the pineapple slices are on top. Remove the parchment paper, and brush the reduced pineapple juice over the cake, letting it soak in.
- Arrange a pecan half in the center of each pineapple ring. Finely chop the rest of the pecans, and sprinkle them around the pineapples.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature, with freshly whipped cream or ice cream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
After cooling the cake completely, it should be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To soften the cold cake, reheat individual slices in the microwave at 50% power for 20-30 seconds.
Yes, you can double the recipe and bake the cake in a 9×13 inch pan.
You can use either a 9 inch round cake pan or a 9×9 inch square baking pan. The square pan will spread the cake into a slightly thinner layer, so the cake may need to bake for 5-10 minutes less.
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High Altitude Pineapple Upside Down Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9 Inch Round Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 20 oz can pineapple slices or rings, in juice, not syrup
- ½ cup light or brown sugar
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ¾ cups cake flour or all purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup whole milk
- â…“ cup sour cream
- â…“ cup pecans, optional
Instructions
Getting Ready
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Grease a 9 inch round cake pan pan with non-stick baking spray and line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper, too.
Pineapple Layer
- Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice for later. Arrange the pineapple slices in the bottom of the pan. You can fit 7 slices in a 9 inch round pan, but if you're making this recipe in a 9×9 square pan, you can fit 9 slices.
- Sprinkle the pineapple with the brown sugar, and then drizzle with the 4 tablespoons melted butter.
Cake Batter
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, milk and sour cream, and whisk into a thick batter.
- Spread the batter evenly over the pineapple.
Bake
- Bake for about 50-60 minutes, until a sharp knife or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- While the cake is baking, pour the reserved pineapple juice from the can into a small saucepan – you should have about 3/4 cup of juice. Over medium heat, bring the juice to a boil, then simmer until the juice has reduced to 1/3 cup. Set aside.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a plate or cake pedestal, so that the pineapple slices are on top. Remove the parchment paper, and brush the reduced pineapple juice over the cake, letting it soak in.
- Arrange a pecan half in the center of each pineapple ring. Finely chop the rest of the pecans, and sprinkle them around the pineapples.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature, with freshly whipped cream or ice cream.
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