Pineapple Upside-Down Pound Cake Recipe

While many pineapple upside-down cake recipes call for using round pans, it's also possible to bake a square or rectangular one, and if you're feeling ambitious, you can even use a bundt pan. Developer Jessica Morone, however, wanted to make a crossover dessert where the brown sugar-pineapple topping would sit atop a pineapple-flavored pound cake. For this reason, she bakes her cake in a loaf pan. 

As Morone tells us, the main difference between her cake and most other upside-down cake recipes isn't so much the shape, however, as it is the texture. She describes her pound cake creation as being "more dense but also more buttery" than the standard upside-down cake. What's more, the crunchy caramel layer isn't just on top of the cake but extends around the sides, as well, which makes for even more pineapple-y goodness. This wraparound topping gives the cake an amazing flavor, as it allows for extra sweetness and tang in every bite.

The cake batter is made with butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, pineapple juice, flour, baking powder, and salt. For the topping, you'll also need brown sugar, pineapple slices, and maraschino cherries.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Pour the melted butter into the bottom of the loaf pan and sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter.

Arrange the pineapple slices and the maraschino cherries around the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate the pan while you make the cake batter so that the fruit and butter mixture sets.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, vanilla extract, sour cream, and pineapple juice until incorporated.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and mix until combined.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 75 to 85 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for 25 minutes, then carefully invert it onto a serving plate.

Let the cake cool to room temperature, then cut and serve.

The main thing you have to worry about with an upside-down cake is making sure it comes out of the pan with the toppings intact. Using a loaf pan doesn't make this any more difficult than a round one, however, and you won't need to prepare the pan with anything more than a light spritz of cooking spray since all of the butter in the wraparound topping will coat the sides, as well. The main thing you need to do to ensure that your cake comes out perfect is to time its removal carefully.

In order for the cake to slide right out of the pan, it needs to be warm but not too warm. If you let it cool all the way down, it will set and stick to the pan; if you flip the pan over while the cake is still hot, the topping can crack and the cake can crumble. As a rule of thumb, the pan should be warm to the touch but not hot, something that should take about 20 to 30 minutes. You'll also need to run a knife around the inside of the pan right before you invert it to make sure that every last bit of cake and topping detaches.

If you'd like to make a few changes to this cake recipe, it would be best to start on the bottom. For starters, you can skip the maraschino cherries, if you like, or replace them with the less-liquidy glace cherries. (These are a popular choice for upside-down cakes in the U.K. and come in green and red varieties.) You could also add chopped pecans to give your upside-down cake a little crunch, or go for a more tropical flavor with macadamias or shredded coconut. As for the pineapple, Morone uses the canned kind, but fresh pineapple rings will also work — you can even use chunks of frozen fruit for your upside-down cake. You could also use a different kind of fruit, such as apples, peaches, or strawberries, in place of the pineapple.

While you won't want to mess with the cake batter to any significant extent, it's possible to make a few tweaks as long as the proportions of liquid and dry ingredients remain the same. The cake in this recipe is pineapple-flavored to match the topping, but you could use orange juice instead of pineapple juice or replace this liquid with coconut water. Coconut or rum extract could also be used instead of vanilla. If you'd like a boozed-up cake, you can also replace the pineapple juice with rum, bourbon, or brandy and go with brandied cherries for the topping.