Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is an absolute classic! But we think we took it to a whole new level by using fresh pineapple and lots of cinnamon. A delicious dessert served warm with Greek yoghurt or whipped cream after dinner, or a lovely sidekick to your mid-morning coffee!
Our Fresh Pineapple Upside-Down Cake has a lot to offer: it is buttery, lighter in texture and has a lot more fruit than its tinned-pineapple cousin. More importantly, fresh pineapple adds a lovely tangy but sweet flavour! Even Seb, who isn’t always a ‘cakey-cake-person’ has a smile on his face when he has this one served for dessert.
To Make Our Fresh Pineapple Upside-Down Cake:
To start, pre-heat the oven to 180° C Fan. Line your loaf or cake tin with baking parchment to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Generously grease the sides of the tin.
Your pineapple should be ripe, and I can’t stress this enough. I like to cut the pineapple into thick wedges. The riper it is the softer the texture of it cooked. Also, it will release all the lovely sweet juices whilst in the oven and create a lovely gooey cinnamon-pineapple caramel topping.
We used half a pineapple in this recipe (about 300g of prepared pineapple). Peel, core, and cut your pineapple into thick wedges to provide a good fruit to cake ratio. If you wish to cut your pineapple into rings, just make sure they’re about twice the thickness of the tinned-pineapple rings.
Make sure your butter is room temperature before you start baking. You will need to spread 40g of it over the bottom with the back of the spoon. Scatter brown sugar over the butter and sprinkle ground cinnamon evenly on top. Now, arrange your wedges (or rings) snugly in your tin. Set aside whilst you make your cake mix.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, caster sugar, vanilla and lemon zest together until light and fluffy with an electric hand whisk. Add the egg yolk and keep whisking until incorporated, making sure you scrape the walls of the bowl to blend in any butter that’d stuck to the sides. Beat in the sour cream (creme fraiche or plain yoghurt work well too). When smooth and well incorporated, I fold in the flour and baking powder. Make sure not to overmix though: some white flour streaks are fine at this stage.
In a separate bowl, whisk your egg white until firm peaks. Taking care not to deflate the egg whites, fold them into the cake mixture, until just combined.
Spoon the cake batter on top of the pineapple and smooth out the top. Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes. To check if your Fresh Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is cooked, I insert a wooden skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean with no batter stuck to it, it’s ready!
Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before attempting to remove. Invert it onto a plate or board. Peel the baking parchment off carefully. Then, top with any gooey caramelised cinnamon juices left in the tin.
Serve your Fresh Pineapple Upside-Down Cake warm with a dollop of Greek Yoghurt or some Whipped Cream. Any leftovers are great served cold with a cup of tea or coffee!
Looking for a different kind but equally satisfying dessert to make? We have plenty of great options:
- Roasted Pineapple with Spiced Caramel & Creme Fraiche
- Triple Ginger Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Baked Banana Cheesecake
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Fresh Pineapple
Ingredients
- 90 g unsalted butter 40g for topping and 50g for sponge (room temperature)
- 45 g light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 300 g fresh ripe pineapple about ½ a medium pineapple
- 90 g caster sugar
- ½ lemon zest only
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 65 g sour cream or creme fraiche
- 100 g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the bottom of your tin with baking parchment and grease the sides.
- Peel and core your pineapple. Cut into thick wedges.
- With the back of the spoon, spread 40g of butter over the bottom of the baking parchment-lined tin. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon evenly on top of the butter. Then arrange your pineapple wedges snugly.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the remaining butter, caster sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. When light and fluffy, add an egg yolk and sour cream and beat until incorporated.
- Gently mix in the flour and baking powder, but don't overmix. Some white flour streaks are ok at this stage.
- In a separate bowl, whisk egg white until firm peaks. Taking care to keep the air in, fold the egg white into the cake mix.
- Spoon the mixture over the pineapple wedges and smooth the mix to make it level.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove. Invert the cake onto a plate/board and carefully peel off the baking parchment, making sure pineapple wedges stay on the cake. Drizzle with any juices remaining in the tin.
- Serve warm or cold with a dollop of Greek yogurt or whipped cream.
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