Nigella's Pineapple Upside Down Cake, a classic homemade dessert made from scratch with a few simple ingredients. The sponge is rich, buttery and so moist, and the pineapple slices and cherries add a nice texture, colour and taste. It's a great cake for every occasion, and it's so easy to make with little prep and effort.
Did I say something about keeping away from desserts? Because that clearly that didn't happen. Today I ended up baking two desserts, both absolutely delicious, but still. So much for focusing on refreshing summer recipes! But well, baking is still a favourite pastime these days for many of us, so a few more desserts should be allowed.
You know me already, I have my favourite cooks and bakers, and Nigella Lawson is one of them for sure! She is not only an excellent cook and writer, but she also makes everything look so easy and doable. And this pineapple upside down cake is definitely super easy and doable even for absolute beginners in the kitchen.
Upside down cake might sound a bit confusing, but it's just a cake that has its topping at the bottom on the pan, and the sponge on top, hence the name upside down. But once the cake is baked, you can turn it upside down, and have the sponge down. It's really easy, trust me on that! Let see how me can make it!
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Ingredients needed to make pineapple upside down cake
- canned pineapples - sliced pineapples look more spectacular in this dessert, rather than pineapple chunks
- candied cherries
- light brown sugar - for sprinkling over the pan
- plain flour
- granulated sugar
- butter - soft + 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
- eggs - 2 large eggs or 3 small eggs
- baking powder
- bicarbonate of soda
- pineapple juice - from the tin
Variations
This cake is so easy to make, and the beauty of it, apart from the divine taste, is that we can easily tweak it to cater for our tastes. Or whatever ingredients we have.
If you have fresh pineapple, you can use that, but make sure it's well ripen, otherwise it might be a tad sour. Fresh cherries can also be used instead of candied cherries, but make sure they are pitted first.
Instead of pineapple juice, you can add lemon or lime juice to the batter, for a nice zingy kick. Or any other juice of your choice, I reckon orange juice is a good choice too.
Otherwise, any other canned fruit should work here: pears and apples sound particularly good, my Apple Upside Down Cake is delicious, plums: my Plum Upside Down Cake is a real treat, and my Blackberry Upside Down Cake is such a classic Autumn dessert. And let's not forget the amazing Banana Upside Down Cake that is cooked entirely in a frying pan on the stove!
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- butter the cake tin, sprinkle some sugar over - granulated, light brown or dark brown, it's up to you
- arrange the pineapple slices and the cherries
- in a food processor, add the flour, baking powder and bicarb of soda, sugar, butter and eggs, and blitz well
Alternatively, use a hand mixer to mix everything together until you get a smooth paste.
- add the pineapple juice to thin the batter up, then pour it over the fruit
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
After 20 minutes I transferred the cake tin to the lower rack in the oven, to avoid it browning too quickly, and I continued to bake it for a further 10 minutes.
- use a sharp knife to loosen up the edges, place a large plate, or tray bake on top, and turn the cake upside down
- serve warm
Expert tips
Before we start, we must make sure that the ingredients are at room temperature, the butter has to be soft (but not melted), and if you keep the eggs refrigerated, they should be out of the fridge at least an hour before.
But the most important thing, we need a cake tin that does not stick at all! Don't use tins with detachable walls, as the batter is quite thin. The shape doesn't really matter, the only cake tin I had that was not springform or loose-bottom was a square one, so that's what I used, but a round one is even better.
Recipe FAQs
If the cake is soggy, if means the batter was too thin, as a result of too much liquid used - that could come from the eggs and pineapple juice. Depending on the size of the eggs used, you might have to use less pineapple juice for a thicker batter.
If the cake sticks to the pan is because the pan had been been buttered well. Make sure you use plenty of soften butter to grease well both the bottom and the sides of the pan.
If you’ve tried my NIGELLLA'S PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Nigella's Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 6 slices of canned pineapples
- 9 candied cherries
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 100 g butter, soft + 1 tablespoon for greasing the pan
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tablespoon pineapple juice
Instructions
- Butter a non-stick pan (non detachable walls, non springform).
- Sprinkle over the light brown sugar, then arrange the pineapple slices and cherries over.
- In a food processor, add the butter, flour, granulated sugar, eggs, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, and blitz well to get a smooth paste.
- Alternatively, add all ingredients to a large bowl, and use a hand mixer to mix everything together.
- Add the pineapple juice to the batter, and mix well again.
- Pour the batter over the fruit, and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- I transferred the cake from the top rack to the middle rack in the oven after 20 minutes to prevent the bake from browning too fast, and I continued to bake it for a further 10 minutes.
- When it's done, use a sharp knife to ease up the edges, then place a large plate or a baking tray on top and turn the cake over.
- Serve warm.
Notes
- Click on the US Customary link to see the measurements displayed in cups and ounces.
- The servings can be adjusted by clicking the number next to Servings.
- If you have fresh pineapple, you can use that, but make sure it's well ripen, otherwise it might be a tad sour. Fresh cherries can also be used instead of candied cherries, but make sure they are pitted first.
- Instead of pineapple juice, you can add lemon or lime juice to the batter, for a nice zingy kick. Or any other juice of your choice, I reckon orange juice is a good choice too.
- Otherwise, any other canned fruit should work here: pears and apples sound particularly good, my Apple Upside Down Cake is so good, plums: my Plum Upside Down Cake is a real treat.
Nutrition
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