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:
Layered Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting – A tender and moist classic two-layer carrot cake with tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting!
Pineapple Coconut Oil Banana Bread — Banana bread spiked with pineapple and coconut oil that’s so good!
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
My great grandma would make a pineapple upside down cake every year for my grandma’s birthday when she was young, and I thought it would be nice to bring back the tradition. After reading several recipes, I decided to go with this one… We absolutely loved it! I’m sure I’ll make it again next year.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this and thanks for selecting my recipe after reading several. Great that you’ll make it again!
Hi Averie. So far I’ve made two of your recipes……Fudgy Banana Bars (twice) and Sweet Cream Vanilla Coffee Cake. Both have been yummy!!!!! There are times I may not have an ingredient and, in this instance, I was wondering if the sour cream/greek yogurt can be substituted with additional buttermilk. Many thanks.
Yes I think you’d be fine. Just add it very slowly and use less than the 1/3 c called for, at least at first. You just don’t want to thin out the batter too much. It’s a pretty thick batter. Enjoy!
Thank you so much. I’ll let you know how it turns out. Have a nice day.
Hi! Can u please tell me if I can substitute the sour cream/greek yoghurt with milk?
Not really because milk isn’t as thick and it will alter the texture and results.
Can u plz tell ur recipe in gm n ml …as measuring cup sizes vary with the brands …tx
A 1 cup measuring cup in the USA is a 1 cup measuring cup, brand does not matter.
Question… Do you have to use a springform pan? I am making this for my Momma’s birthday today and want to make sure :) I have to buy the pan to make it lol.
Just read an above post that says you do! Oops, thanks! :)
I just made this cake. Used Greek yogurt, and as I had no buttermilk or regular milk home, I used cream with a tsp. lemon juice added. Turned out awesome. It even looked like the picture! It smelled so good that I couldn’t wait to try it, so I inverted it onto the plate after only about 20 minutes and ate it while hot. I can barely stop myself from going back for more (a lot more)! Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you made it and that Greek yog + lemon juice did the trick! Great that it turned out like the pics and that you inverted it right away without issue. Glad you’re stealing bites of it, too :)
Granddaughter and I made this cake today. It was delicious and looked great. We didn’t have excess batter like you mentioned in the recipe. I would double the batter next time. What did we do wrong? I double checked the dry ingredients. The cake was very thin. I think it probably would have filled a nine in regular cake pan.
Well your pan may just have been slightly deeper than mine, thus no excess; pan sizes vary slightly.
The fact that the cake tasted great but batter seemed thin; well I use Trader Joe’s buttermilk and King Arthur all-purpose flour. I swear by that flour specifically and flour or buttermilk variances in brands could result in the cake batter being a different texture/thickness, but you said the cake came out great…so I don’t know exactly how to explain it. You could try changing flour and see if that changes the thickness of the batter or change buttermilks.
I made the cake in a 9-inch springform pan as stated in the recipe. I’m wondering if I should have used a 9-inch round instead? Thanks so much in advance.
Springform is correct. It’s far too much batter to fit into a typical 9-inch round given the layer of pineapple/cherries. Plus, getting it out would be less of a sure-thing.
Perfect! Thank you!
Averie, I have been knowing and following your recipes for only a month now but every recipe I tried from your blogs has turned out perfectly. I have tried the cherry bread, chocolate chip cookie, chocolate chip strawberry muffin and cherry chocolate chip blondies (yes, I have a thing for chocolate chip and fruits!). And you know what, they all came out beautifully! My boyfriend lovessssssss them and so do his family. Whatever I baked was always gone in the next morning! I’m trying this tmr since he’s begging me to bake smth pineapple. Wish me luck!
And thank you! You are my favourite!
Thanks for finding me and for trying so many of my recipes already! Wow, you’ve done a lot of baking and that’s awesome! So glad everything has worked perfectly and that everyone else is loving the treats, too! Enjoy this cake, it’s one of my all-time favorites!
Pineapple Upside Down Cake is my absolute favorite cake and until last year, I’ve had one every year as far back as I can remember (for my birthday). Like you, I always felt like there wasn’t enough of the pinneapple goodness. Once I started making these myself, I opted for crushed pinneapple which consistently covers the cake and gives pinneapple in every bite (I choose to omit the cherries, but the ‘crushed’ recipe works with or without the cherries). Also, my Aunt actually doubles the pinneapple/butter/brown sugar topping and, to me, it makes it even yummier. Maybe you or your readers can find this info. useful and/or adapt it as you/they see fit.
I’m looking forward to trying this tonight. Any idea how I can scale this to a larger springform pan. I have one that is 10.5 inches.
I would just use a few more bananas and bake a little less time possibly since the cake will be thinner since your pan is a bit bigger. Just guessing of course, since I havent tried it personally. Enjoy!
My husband asked for a pineapple upside down cake this year for father’s day. After searching online, I found this recipe and I am so glad I did. The cake turned out beautifully, just like the picture. My husband loved that there were extra pineapples on top (different from his childhood memories). I turned the cake onto my cake server, but there was no real need. Within minutes, my husband and three sons had consumed the treat. I am not a fan of pineapple cake, but in the sample piece I had, I loved the base cake and will be using it as a base for many other recipes. This was a great recipe. Thanks again for sharing it!
I am thrilled to hear this cake was a big success, both in terms of taste, visual appeal and it turning out just like my photos, and that you plan to use this cake base for other recipes. Yes, and as I mentioned in the post, I tweaked and adapted my favorite small-cake cake base that uses buttermilk because it’s such a keeper! It never lets me down. Many of the “Related Recipes” I linked use a very similar base so you can check those out for inspiration if you’d like!
I made this for my dad today and it was a huge hit! I’ll definitely be making it again :) thank you!!
Thanks for trying this cake, Kara, and glad you’ll be making it again! And how sweet of you to bake for you dad on Father’s Day :)
Love your newsletters
This turned out superb! I have yet to be disappointed in any of your recipes (and I’ve made a quite a few). It is moist and not too sweet: the perfect combo. The only thing I would mention to readers is that I used half of the brown sugar and butter that was recommended for a 9 in pan. I only used enough to cover the pan generously but still had a ton of each leftover. And it still turned out GREAT!! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for trying many of my recipes and glad you loved this cake and that the tweaks you made worked out just fine! Thanks for LMK you made it!
I made this yesterday for my mom for Mother’s Day. I followed the recipe exactly, I did use Greek yogurt in lieu of sour cream. You weren’t fibbing this really is the best Pineapple Upside Down Cake EVER!!! Thank you!
Thank you for trying it and glad that you agree that it really is the best :) How sweet of you to bake for your mom, too!
The Pineapple Upside Down Cake sounds good, but mine is better! I cook the pineapple in the butter and brown sugar in a large sauté pan on the stove first. This allows the pineapple slices to caramelize. Then I arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom go the pan, adding the cherries and pouring the butter /brown sugar moisture over the fruit. I add the pineapple juice from the can of pineapple to the cake mixture and I also add some coconut flakes to the cake mixture. When the cake is done, while it is still hot, I poke the cake all over and pour a can of Creme de Coconut over the cake and allow the cake to absorb it. The cake cannot be turned out of the pan. It is too moist and will fall apart. It must be scooped out. When the cake is cooled, I cover it with homemade whipped cream. Now that is the best Pineapple Upside Down Cake!
No… yours is not a pineapple upside down cake as you freely admit you don’t invert the cake. Drowning the cake in other flavors is another cake foul in my book.
Don’t be so rude, your post was offensive and I am just a reader of the blog.
I def agree with Jason! And I’m sorry but your version sounds way too soggy, mushy and sweet. I can’t wait to try this recipe!