My wife and I recently received an exotic fruit delivery for our anniversary. The gift from my sister consisted of longans, mango, papaya, avocado, dragonfruit, and pink pineapple. The pink pineapple was intriguing to me and I wanted to try making the Claire Saffitz version of the pineapple upside-down cake with a pink pineapple featured in her book “Dessert Person”. The cake is delicious and the pecans add a great flavor profile that balances with the sweetness and tang of the pineapple. It’s a bit more involved than my fruit torte recipe but worth the extra effort. Let’s get to the recipe.
Pineapple Cutting and Coring
For the pineapple, I used a pineapple corer which is one of the few kitchen gadgets I like to keep in my kitchen despite how infrequently I use it. It makes cutting and coring pineapple so much quicker and easier, even if it doesn’t get all the fruit.
Plus you can use the pineapple to hold your drinks afterward, so there’s a bit of novelty there as well. Anyway, cut the pineapple rings into quarters and set them aside. If you’re not using a pineapple corer, slice the top and bottom off of the pineapple. Cut the skin off of the pineapple and remove any eyes that are in the flesh of the fruit. Cut the pineapple lengthwise into long pieces, leaving the core intact. Thinly slice the pineapple pieces into strips and set aside.
Place the juices from the pineapple into a saucepan with the rum and brown sugar. Place the pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pineapple pieces to the saucepan. Add water to the saucepan so that the pineapple pieces are barely submerged. Simmer on low-medium heat until the pineapple pieces are soft and tender, around 10-15 minutes.
Return the saucepan with the remaining juices to a boil and add the butter and salt. Cook until the butter is melted and the mixture is bubbling and thick, around 5-7 minutes.
Pour the caramel sauce into the prepared cake pan and tilt to ensure the bottom of the pan is completely coated in caramel. Add the pineapple pieces in an overlapping pattern to ensure complete coverage of the bottom of the pan. Set the pan aside while the batter is prepared.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake Batter
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set the rack in the center of the oven. Place the pecans on a rimmed baking tray and set them in the oven to toast for 10-15 minutes. Shake the pan halfway through toasting to ensure even coverage and toasting. Remove the pecans from the oven and set aside to cool completely. Place the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Add the cooled pecans and process using long pulses until the pecans are finely ground. Set the mixture aside.
Next, prepare the stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of the stand mixer and mix on low-medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, around 3 minutes. Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, letting the egg fully incorporate after each addition. When adding the last egg, include the vanilla extract.
With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the batter, followed by half of the buttermilk. Mix thoroughly with each addition of wet and dry ingredients. Repeat with another third of the flour mixture and the rest of the buttermilk. Add the final third of the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Fold the batter a few times by hand with a spatula to ensure all of the ingredients have been well mixed.
Baking and Finishing Notes
Once the batter is fully mixed, dollop the cake mixture on top of the pineapple in the prepared cake pan. Use the spatula to create a smooth layer on top. Bake the cake in the center rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The cake should be pulled away from the sides of the pan a bit as well. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for fifteen minutes.
Once the cake is cooled a bit, it can be flipped. Place a serving platter on top of the cake pan. In one motion invert the cake pan and plate so that the cake will release from the pan and drop onto the serving plate. The cake needs to be warm for this step so that it will release cleanly. Once the cake has been flipped, it can be served immediately.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Equipment
- 8" cake pan
- Stand Mixer (hand mixer works too)
- Food Processor
- Pineapple Corer (optional but super handy if you have one)
Ingredients
Pineapple & Caramel
- Pineapple, medium (around 3.5 lbs)
- 100 grams light brown sugar (½ cup)
- 57 grams dark rum (¼ cup)
- 14 grams Unsalted Butter (1 tbsp)
- pinch of salt
Cake Batter
- 113 grams pecan halves or pieces (4 oz)
- 130 grams all-purpose (AP) flour (1 cup)
- 1-½ tsp Cinnamon
- 3 grams Kosher Salt (1 tsp)
- 6 grams Baking soda (1 tsp)
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ¼ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 113 grams unsalted butter, room temp (8 tbsp)
- 100 grams granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 50 grams Brown sugar (¼ cup, packed)
- 2 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 120 grams buttermilk (½ cup)
Instructions
Pineapple & Caramel Instructions
- Butter the bottom and sides of the cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Cut the pineapple. If you have a pineapple corer, use that then slice the pineapple rounds into quarter circle pieces. The pineapple slices should be as thin as possible to ensure complete coverage of the bottom of the pan but if there are some gaps, its not the end of the world.
- In a large saucepan, add the pineapple juice, brown sugar and rum. Stir over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved then add the pineapple slices.
- Add water to the saucepan so that the pineapple is barely submerged. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook until the pineapple is soft and translucent. Transfer the pineapple slices to a plate, reserving the juices in the pan.
- Bring the mixture in the saucepan back to medium heat and add the butter and a pinch of salt. Cook until the butter is melted and the mixture is thick and bubbling, around 5-7 minutes. Swirl the pan often to ensure even heating.
- Pour the caramel sauce into the prepared cake pan and tilt the cake pan to ensure even coating. Once the caramel has cooled, set the pineapple on the bottom of the pan, creating an overlapping pattern. Set the pan aside while the cake batter is prepared
- Preheat the oven to 350 and place the pecans on a lined baking tray. Bake for ten minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Shake the pan halfway through toasting. Set the toasted pecans aside to cool.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in the bowl of the food processor. Add the cooled pecans and process the mixture in long pulses until the pecans are finely ground. Set the flour mixture aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides once or twice while beating the butter mixture.
- Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.
- With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the dry ingredients and incorporate into the mixture. Add half of the buttermilk and mix to incorporate. Repeat with another third of the dry ingredients, the second half of the buttermilk and finally the last third of the dry ingredients.
- Turn off the mixer and fold the batter a few times to ensure all the ingredients are fully incorporated. Put the batter into the cake pan on top of the pineapple in small dollops. Use a spatula to smooth the batter on top into an even layer.
- Bake the cake in the center rack of the oven on 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake is pulling away from the sides of the pan a little bit.
- Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a paring knife, cut around the edge of the pan to help release the cake from the pan. Invert the cake onto a plate or serving platter and slowly remove the pan. Let the cake cool completely and serve.
