Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Recipe

For the most part, we tend to look down on canned fruits and vegetables as being inferior to fresh ones, and in many cases we're right. Canned produce, however, does have its moments. When making tomato sauce, for one thing, canned tomatoes are actually superior to ones just off the vine. Canned pineapple, as well, may be better for cooking than the fresh kind. It's less acidic, so canned pineapple is a much better option for a Jell-O dessert, for example.

In upside-down cake, recipe developer Ting Dalton feels canned pineapple is "more aesthetically pleasing" due to the fact that "the perfectly cut rings of [canned] pineapple [are] what give this cake its nostalgic retro feel of the seventies." She also says that this cake "never fails to please," but notes that it's also "super easy to make." Canned pineapple rings and all, Dalton's upside-down cake is a pretty traditional one. It does, however, involve a scratch-made cake rather than the boxed mix called for in many recipes. That being said, it's still an easy recipe and, in just an hour's time, you'll have a delicious, retro-looking, homemade pineapple upside-down cake!

In addition to the aforementioned pineapple rings, the cake topping is made with brown sugar and butter. You'll need butter for the batter, too, plus granulated sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, vanilla extract, and milk.

As you're getting started with things, preheat the oven to 300 F. Butter the sides of a 9-inch springform pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

Mix the brown sugar, honey, and ½ stick (4 tablespoons) of butter and melt them together in a pan over medium heat. Spoon the sugar mixture into the base of the springform pan, then arrange the pineapple rings on top. (You may have leftovers.) Dalton says the brown sugar topping "adds another depth of flavor to the pineapple rings" and soaks into the cake itself.

Beat the remaining butter together with the sugar until well-combined, then add the eggs one at a time. Fold the flour into the batter along with the baking powder, then stir in the vanilla and milk. Don't over-stir the batter! Once all of the ingredients are combined and the mixture is relatively smooth, go ahead and spoon it over the pineapple rings in the pan.

Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes, using a skewer to check to see when it's done. You know the drill: skewer comes out coated with raw batter, cook the cake a little longer. If it comes out clean, you're good to go. The top of the cake should also look golden.

Let the cake sit for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the springform pan. Invert the cake over a plate, peeling the paper off the pineapple if necessary. The cake can be served just as it is, or you could add a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. Dalton says the cake should last for up to 4 days in an airtight container. She feels that a slice of this cake would be "great served with a cup of tea for an afternoon treat."