Pineapple upside down cake by Donna Hay

Donna Hay’s upside down pineapple cake is a slightly more modern version of the traditional and well-known American cake. Compared to the classic version, the amount of the ingredients is slightly different and the decoration on the top (or should I say bottom) is created with fresh pineapple and not the canned one. The cake is simple in preparation, soft, moist and delicate, covered with a delicious layer of fruit slices cooked in sugar syrup. Perfect for different occasions and for different seasons. Absolutely a must try while still hot with dripping caramelized sugar syrup and a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. For this recipe I have slightly modified Donna Hay‘s original recipe.

Pineapple upside down cake by Donna Hay

Easy, cute and delicious version of traditional pineapple upside down cake made by Donna Hay. Easy cake with caramelized fruit on top.

Course cake, sweets and desserts

Cuisine vegetarian

Keyword almonds, american food, easy cake, pineapple, simple cake, soft cake, summer dessert, traditional recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 20

Cooking pineapple for the syrup 20

Total Time 1 55

Servings 23 wide baking pan

Calories 420kcal

Ingredients

Pineapple decoration

450 g fresh pineapple
370 ml water
100 g white sugar

Upside down cake

200 g white sugar
190 g soft butter
3 medium eggs at room temperature
300 g all-purpose flour
60 g almonds
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
120 ml plain yogurt at room temperature
120 ml milk at room temperature
1 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Instructions for pineapple upside-down cake

For this recipe all the ingredients must be at room temperature.
Peel your pineapple. Cut in four or eight pieces longwise. Eliminate the hard central core and then cut it into very thin slices. In a fairly large pot or pan, pour the water along with the sugar. Stir then gently add the fruit slices. Bring to a boil. Lower the flame and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove the cooked slices and set aside to cool. After 15 minutes of cooking you should have about 180 – 200 ml of syrup. Keep it aside.
Line a round (23 cm wide) springform with a circle of parchment paper. Spread the edge of the pan with a some butter and dust it with flour. Arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom of the pan by overlapping them and creating a flower-like decoration starting from the edge and going towards the center. Set aside and in the meantime prepare the batter.

The cake batter

Mix the yogurt with the milk and lemon juice and set aside to make it curdle. You can also use the same amount of liquid using kefir or buttermilk.
Blend your almonds until you get a fine sand-like mixture.
Whip your soft butter with 200 g of white sugar for 5 minutes until it becomes clear and light. Gradually add the eggs, whipping each time to incorporate.
Add sifted flour, baking soda and baking powder. Also add your blended almonds, a pinch of salt and yogurt mixed with milk and lemon juice. Stir just to mix all the ingredients.

Note from the author of this recipe

I just want to tell you that I really appreciate that you have decided to prepare my recipe. If you like it, I would be very happy and it could be a huge help for me if you follow me on my official social channel such as instagram where I publish every time a new recipe comes out. To become my follower just search for foodohfood in your instagram or click on this link: https://www.instagram.com/foodohfood/ and press Follow. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Barbara. ^_^

Baking time

I highly recommend that you place your round pan on top of another larger pan as the syrup tends to leak out and drip.
Pour half of the syrup over the pineapple slices and then gently add the batter. Use your spooon to make it flat.
Bake in a preheated static oven at 180 ° C for 1 hour, then cover the cake with aluminum foil and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes. Prick the cake with a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake to check if it is ready.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. If you want yours to be completely flat, you have to remove the spring form ring and cut away the cake's hump. Otherwise, wait until the cake has cooled down enough and turn it upside down on a slightly hollow plate otherwise you risk splitting it in two.
Wet the surface of the cake with the leftover pineapple syrup and serve.