This Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake is easy to make, beautiful, and absolutely delicious. This classic cake of pineapples and cherries can now be made at your home.
Pineapple upside-down cake has always been a favorite of mine with a tender cake topped with a delicious caramel-y topping of fruits. I have never attempted to make it myself before, but this recipe by Domestic Gothess inspired me to fire this cake in my own kitchen. It was surprisingly quick to make. It may look like a lot of ingredients, but many of them you might have at home.
Not to mention the colors are striking.
Make it yourself! Recipe below!
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Ingredients for vegan pineapple upside down cake
- Vegan Butter. Vegan Butter is used in both the topping and the cake. I reccomend using vegan buttery baking sticks, instead of the spreadable margarine. This is because there is a higher fat content.
- Pineapple. The pinapple used in this recipe is canned pineapple rings. This is easier than getting it from a big pineapple and the syrup is used in the cake batter.
- Cherries. You can maraschino cherries or glace cherries.
- All-purpose flour
- Cornstarch. Cornstarch softens the gluten in flour and makes a more tender cake.
- Baking Powder and Baking soda. These add lift to the cake when combined with the acid in the vinegar.
- Yogurt. This also helps activate the power of the baking soda and powder. I like using unsweetened coconut yogurt.
- Apple Cider Vinegar. You can use white distilled vinegar or lemon juice.
Storing It
If you have leftovers, cover the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge. Then you can reheat it in the microwave for 15-25 seconds until slightly warmed.
It might even be better the next day because the flavor of pineapple and cherries really mix into the cake itself. It will also be easier to slice once out of the fridge.
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Vegan Upside Down Cake
Equipment
- 8" Cake tin
Materials
Pineapple Topping
- 45 g (3 tbsp) vegan butter
- 75 g (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) light brown sugar or muscavado sugar
- about 7 pineapple rings from a can (keep the juice for later in the recipe)
- maraschino or glace cherries as needed
Cake
- 190 g (1 1/2 cups + 1 tbsp) All-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 140 g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 100 g (1/3 cup +1 Tbsp + 1 tsp) non-dairy milk, unsweetened room temp
- 45 g pineapple juice reserved from the pineapple can
- 45 g non-dairy yogurt, unsweetened
- 60 g (1/4 cup) neutral oil
- 60 g (1/4 cup) vegan butter, melted preferably from vegan butter sticks made for baking
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, white distilled vinegar, or lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
Pineapple Topping
- Grease a 8" round cake tin with butter or oil. It should be at least 2" high. It should not a springform pan with a loose bottom.
- In a medium pan, melt the vegan butter on medium heat. Once melted, stir in the brown sugar until it dissolved. Pour into the cake tin and spread evenly across the bottom.
- With a paper towel, thoroughly blot out any excess moisture from the pineapple and cherries. You want it to be fairly dry.
- Arrange the pineapple rings on the bottom of the cake pan, you might have to squish some together. Then add a cherry to the middle of each pineapple and in any empty gaps.
- Place the cake tin in the fridge while you prepare the cake batter.
Cake
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, pineapple juice, yogurt, oil, melted butter, vanilla, and vinegar.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and carefully mix together until no more dry lumps, but don't over mix the batter.
- Pour the batter over the pineapples and cherries in the cake tin. Smooth the top and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes until a skewer entered into the middle comes out clean. Be carefully not to push it all the way down because it can hit the fruit and come out wet even if the cake is cooked.
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes in the cake tin, then run a knife along the edge and turn onto a plate. The bottom is now the top.
- Let cool at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.
Notes
- I recommend using the gram measurements for baking because it gives more accurate results.
- This is a very tender cake, so to have clean slices, it’s best to wait for it tot cool completely. Don’t place it in the fridge because it can make it dense.
I hope you try this recipe. If you tried this recipe, let me know in the comments below.