Today is a fabulous day, my friends. Why, you ask? Because it is National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake day! Can you imagine a more deliciously indulgent day? And can you imagine a better way to celebrate it than to make a pineapple upside-down cake? I sure can’t. It makes a Monday like this feel like a Friday.
I think pineapple upside-down cake is one of my favorite cakes of all time. I was fishing through my mom’s best recipes and I came across this one. And this recipe is THE BEST Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe ever known to man. What I love about it is it isn’t super dense like many other recipes, where you feel like you’ve eaten a brick afterwards. No, not this cake.
This cake is light and airy and makes you feel like you’re floating on clouds in a marvelous and delicious pineapple-topped, caramely, fluffy cake dream. The cake flour is what makes it airy and the brown sugar/butter topping soaked into the cake gives it an incredible caramel-like flavor. The other great thing about this recipe? Almond extract. Because I have a crush on it. If I spot a recipe for a cake or cookie with almond extract in it, I immediately want to make it.
Now I normally don’t love nuts in baked goods and would prefer to have them as a snack or on a salad. Or I’ll throw cashews in a stir-fry or something. But from homebaked goods, I usually omit the nuts when possible. But for this recipe, the pecans add a slight nutty flavor that complements the caramel and pineapple wonderfully.
So celebrate National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day by making the Best Pineapple Upside-Down Cake ever! Grab a slice (or two), top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and indulge. Mondays never tasted so good!
- 6 eggs, at room temperature, separated
- ¾ cup butter
- 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 1 20-oz. can pineapple sliced, drained
- ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 4 maraschino cherries, halved
- 1-1/2 cups cake flour
- 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 1-1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
- 1-1/2 tsp almond extract
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a 10-inch, oven-safe skillet, melt ¾ cup butter over low heat. Remove from heat.
- Sprinkle brown sugar over butter. Arrange pineapple slices to cover bottom of skillet. (I make a circle around the pan and then put one slice in the middle). Cut remaining pineapple slices into chunks and fill in empty spots.
- Sprinkle with pecans and place cherry halves, cut side up, in the center of each pineapple ring. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form when beater is slowly raised. Add sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form.
- Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks until thick and yellow, about 2 minutes.
- Gently fold egg yolks and flour mixture into egg whites until combined. Fold in 1-1/2 Tbsp melted butter and almond extract.
- Spread batter over pineapple in skillet. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until surface springs back when lightly pressed.
- Loosen edge of cake (I use a butter knife and slide it around). Let stand 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.
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Looks fantastic!! I’ve never made pineapple upside down cake but you are inspiring me to give it a try!!
Hey Justine, if you love pineapple, you must make this cake. I promise you’re going to love it. Thanks for visiting!