Easy Upside Down Pineapple Cherry Cake Recipe – Baking for Beginners

One day, this beautiful picture of upside down pineapple cake appeared on my Instagram feed. And I decided to make it because we all at home love pineapple and I also want to get better at baking. I can cook a decent amount of dishes on stove-top but I find baking to be an intimidating task. That’s why I decided to get over my fear and get better at it.

I have written this blog-post with beginner bakers in mind. I have included things that I would have loved to know when I started baking. So the recipe ingredients and steps would come with long explanations. Seasoned bakers, please skip.

I followed Saee Koranne Khandekar’s recipe with a little changes. And it turned out so so good. The pineapples were soft and the crust was buttery, crispy, and slightly chewy on the sides like egg drop/bean biscuits (which I love) but soft and spongy inside. I was worried that it’ll be too moist because of the pineapples. But it wasn’t! It was perfect!

Here’s the recipe. (Refer to notes/tips for * marked ingredients/steps)

Ingredients you would need for the upside down pineapple layer:

1. Brown sugar – ½ cup*, packed
2. Unsalted butter - 1 ½ tablespoon, softened
3. Slices of sweetened and drained canned pineapple slices – 4 *
4. Cherries - 10-12 (I used fresh cherries, de-seeded) *

Ingredients you would need for the cake:

1. All-purpose flour (maida) – 3/4th cup, approximately
2. Vanilla custard powder – 3 tablespoon *
3. Unsalted butter – 100 grams, softened
4. Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
5. Brown sugar – 1 cup, packed
6. Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon
7. Eggs – 3

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade. Grease the cake tin with butter  - bottom and sides (I used an 8 inch round tin and preheated the oven for 15 minutes by placing a bowl with handful of dry pulses).
2. Prepare the upside down layer by first mixing the butter and brown sugar. Spread it out evenly at the bottom of the tin. Then place the slices of pineapple (whole, or halved or quartered) on the sugar-butter layer. Place the cherries in the centre of pineapple slices or in the gaps between the pieces. There’s no rule as to how the cherries and pineapples should be arranged as long as they cover the bottom of the tin. So get creative. Keep it aside.
3. For the cake, start by sieving the all purpose flour, custard powder and baking powder.
4. In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar, until creamy with a hand blender or a whisk. Once mixed well, add the vanilla essence and eggs, one at a time for convenience. You can also use a food processor.
5. Add the flour mixture gradually in the butter-eggs mixture and fold it well.  Pour over the pineapple and cherry layer.
6. Put it in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. (I have a microwave oven, so used the convection mode).
7. When done, take it out carefully and insert a toothpick in the centre (not too deep because the pineapple layer at the bottom would be moist). If it comes out clean, that means the cake is done. If not, then bake for 5-10 minutes more. (My cake didn’t need any additional baking time).
8. Let it rest outside for 10 minutes. Then, run a knife at the sides to loosen the edges and invert it on a plate. Best eaten warm but it tastes great warm or cold, fresh or the next day.

Tips/Notes

1. The original recipe calls for Demerara sugar (for the upside down layer) and castor sugar for the cake. I didn’t find either of the two at my grocery store so I replaced it with fine brown sugar. You can use what’s available.
2. The original recipe calls for a small tin of canned pineapples. I could only find the big one (840 grams). So 4 slices were enough to cover the tin. You could use more or less, depending on the size and shape of your baking dish. Some also place a few slices on the side of the tin, which would work too but it will make the cake very sweet. If you can get your hands on ripe and juicy fresh pineapples, you can use that – just keep the slices thick.
3. Same goes for cherries – use canned/preserved cherries or fresh.
4. The original recipe calls for 1 cup of flour. But in her Instagram post, she said she replaced 3 tablespoons of flour with 3 tablespoons of vanilla custard powder. Since, I had the vanilla custard powder; I decided to do the same as well. I first added 3 tablespoons of custard powder to a cup and then filled the cup with flour. You can use only flour.
5. After baking it and reading many recipes and my personal experience with baking cakes, I also don’t see why using salted butter should be a problem. So if you are unable to find unsalted butter, use salted.
6. Invest in a set of measuring cups and use the same set for all cup and spoon measurements. And level off the ingredients while baking, not less or heap. Run the flat edge of a knife to get rid of excess.
7. Lastly, don’t be afraid to try, because you’ll only learn by trying. I burned a table the first time I tried baking a cake. I also learned the hard way that you can’t replace vanilla essence with pineapple essence. Or that cake can turn out well even if you forget to preheat. Or that brown sugar can easily replace Demerara and castor sugar. Try and learn.

Happy Baking!