By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(206)
- Notes
- Read community notes
By substituting pecans (or other nuts) for the usual maraschino cherries, this twist on a classic upside-down cake is less sweet and crunchier than the usual recipe. Caramelizing the brown sugar in a skillet before adding the fruit gives you a particularly deep, complex flavor. Because of the moisture in the topping, you’ll need to bake this cake a little longer than other, similar butter cakes. Underbaked cake will be soggy and apt to fall apart, but an ideal result will have a well-browned surface and dark, slightly crunchy edges.
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Ingredients
Yield:1 (10-inch) cake
- 4tablespoons/56 grams unsalted butter
- ⅓cup/71 grams light brown sugar
- 1½ to 2½teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (see Tip)
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1pound peeled pineapple, cut into ½-inch slices (3 cups; see Tip)
- ½cup coarsely chopped pecans
- ½cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for greasing
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 2large eggs, at room temperature
- ½cup/118 milliliters sour cream or plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ¼teaspoon baking soda
- ¾teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½cups/195 grams all-purpose flour
For the Fruit Topping
For the Cake
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step
2
Make the topping: In an oven-safe 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and salt, and whisk until the brown sugar melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step
3
Let cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly, about 1 minute longer. (Don’t walk away or the mixture may burn.) The mixture will clump and separate, but that's OK.
Step
4
Add fruit and nuts, gently tossing to coat with the caramel. Remove from heat and arrange fruit into an even layer on bottom of skillet. Ignore any sugar clumps; they will dissolve during baking.
Step
5
Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until well mixed. Sprinkle in baking powder, baking soda and salt into the batter, one at a time, and whisking vigorously after each addition. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy, but that’s OK. Don’t overmix. Scrape batter into the skillet over the fruit and spread evenly.
Step
6
Bake until surface is deeply browned all over (with darker brown edges) and the fruit is lightly bubbling along the sides of the skillet, about 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out clean.
Step
7
Once the cake is out of the oven, immediately run a butter knife or offset spatula along the edge of the skillet. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully invert cake into serving platter. If some fruit or nuts stick to bottom of the skillet, gently remove them using offset spatula or knife and place back onto cake. Let cake cool until the fruit topping sets, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, before serving. Cake is best served on the day it is baked.
- Since you’ll need the lemon juice for the topping and the grated zest for the cake, it’s best to zest the lemon before you cut it and juice it.
- You can substitute an equal amount of drained canned pineapple for fresh.
Ratings
4
out of 5
206
user ratings
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
GretcheKnits
The skillet is great — do not make this in a cake pan with a removable bottom! (Ask me how I know this…..)
Martha
I always use well drain crushed pineapple. It makes slicing much easier.
Betsy
Warning - make sure your skillet is well seasoned! Made this as a birthday cake for husband who does all the clean-up...thoroughly... including taking off skillet seasoning. The acid from the pineapple reacted with the iron and the cake when flipped was a *very* unappetizing black. Looked disgusting (REALLY), but tasted fine- he ate it all!
Xfarmerlaura
But the fresh pineapple will be so much better, more interesting. Easier is often much less delicious...
Lynda H.
Thank you for this suggestion. Fresh pineapple, canned crushed or sliced pineapple, and frozen pineapple can all bring something different and delicious to this upside-down cake!
Leslye Borden
I first made pineapple upside down cake the day Kennedy was shot. I was newly married and this was one of my first desserts. I used canned pineapple rings decorated with maraschino cherries. It tasted like sawdust in our mouths, we were so sad. I never made it again until today. I had too much fresh pineapple and had to do something with it. The recipe was perfect. Came out exactly as described in the directions. We both enjoyed it and fondly remembered the long ago first cake.
Note
Added chopped candied ginger, used yogurt, 1/3 the sugar in the cake. Used yogurt with BRN sugar and bourbon for topping. FRESH pineapple.
Carolyn
I used only 1/2 c sugar in the batter and it was great, not cloyingly sweet. I made the caramel in a frying pan and mixed in pecans, then transferred it to a deep dish pie pan because I didn’t have a skillet I trusted in the oven. I then layered in fresh pineapple slices and added batter. To adjust for >7500 ft elevation I used 1 tsp baking powder and 1/8 tsp baking soda and baked at 375 for 15 minutes then 350 for another 15 minutes.
love to bake
I made this but omitted the lemon zest and juice. I serves it at a dinner party and was loved by all. Delicious
jamie
Delicious! Used fresh pineapple and had extra. Puréed extra and used 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup purée instead of the called for 1/2 cup of sour cream. Rave reviews from all.
Robert
I just made this with a pineapple left over from Xmas. It turned out beautifully. Thanks Melissa.
LOLA
I made with with a cast iron skillet and made exactly to directions. I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream and it was delish! I cooked for 40-45min and I thought maybe I overlooked it but it was still amazing. Came out of the pan easy too. This will be my go to recipe for PUDC.
Rebekah
Best pineapple upside down cake I've made. The lemon gives the typical upside down cake taste a lift up. I used jarred sour cherries instead of the pecans due to allergies in the house, and those kept the sweet controlled as well. I'll be using only this recipe.Made a vegan version as well using flax eggs. That did not turn out too well, must have needed a longer cooking period and perhaps some other modifications to lighten the dough. Tasted good, but terrible texture, lol.
Barbara
Very delicious. I used fresh pineapple and cut out the center core. Instead of sour cream I used vanilla low fat Greek yogurt. I was able to pause cooking after the sugar/butter mixture was done and pineapples were in place. A NOTE: Check the center of the cake to see if done. I tested the side middle and the center wasn’t done.
mimi
well it came out very pretty with the fruits and nuts. It popped right out of my seasoned cast iron pan.I reduced the sugar in the cake.
Cheryl
Can I make this in a regular cake pan?
Elena S.
a bit too dry and crumbly - maybe a little more yogurt or 1/4 c applesauce? Or some of the pineapple juice?
Sabina
Came out just like the picture, not that good-looking, but still nice, and it tasted amazing! I never had pineapple upside-down cake before and I immediately shared it with a friend who was ill. She loved it too! I used a little less sugar for the cake batter (150g) and it was just perfect. I did everything else according to the recipe, using a 10-inch cast-iron skillet that I appreciate more and more.
kris
I made this as written (canned pineapple tidbits, in a well seasoned cast iron skillet) and it turned out perfectly! The cake was a bit poundcake-like, which was a good thing. Not cloyingly sweet like the old-school pineapple cakes, which was also a bonus. Quick and easy to make.
Margaret
A very good cake!
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