Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake

This Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake gives us the gooey, buttery, brown sugar and caramelized fruit topping that we know and love from classic upside down cake, but with a fall spin… pumpkin! You’ll love this autumn take on a classic with my Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake recipe.

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I LOVE a good upside down cake. They get no love on the blog and never become popular recipes here, but I keep making them because I personally love them.

Someday an upside down cake recipe will make a splash, and will get the attention it deserves. Maybe that day is today, and maybe the rise of upside down cake popularity will start with this Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake!

This recipe is special because the cake is a pumpkin cake. Not yellow or white cake as is traditional with pineapple upside down cake, but pumpkin cake.

The pumpkin cake is good. Really, really good. Exceptional. It’s got prominent pumpkin flavor, and it’s pretty stocked with spice too. I don’t want to say it’s heavily spiced because it’s really just the right amount of spice to enhance the pumpkin, but doesn’t go overboard. Because…..

We have to mesh the pumpkin with pineapple, and while pineapple can handle some spice, I don’t want to drown it out completely. Pineapple is mellow in baked goods, so I don’t want it to be overwhelmed. 

Of course the topping is wonderful. Hello, it’s butter and brown sugar, and they turn into a sweet, gooey sauce… a caramel-like sauce that then caramelizes the pineapple and cherries. It’s fabulous, but that probably doesn’t even need explained!

But this Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake recipe really shines with the actual pumpkin cake component. I’ve had upside down cakes where the cake was terrible. Dry, coarse, and mealy.

This pumpkin cake is the furthest thing from that. It’s moist, soft, and springy, and almost has a little bit of chew to it, which is super satisfying. It’s soft and tender, while still having enough structure to hold up to the gooey topping and fruit.

 

It’s very buttery – not in a greasy way. I mean, it is drenched in butter on top, but it doesn’t taste like a cake doused in butter so much as the butter is married right into the cake, and shines through as a flavor component too. I guess it’s hard to explain, but it’s a stellar cake.

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Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake

Sarah

This Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake gives us the gooey, buttery, caramelized brown sugar topping that we know and love from classic upside down cake, but with a fall spin... pumpkin! You'll love the marriage of summery tropical vibes and autumn feels in this Pineapple Pumpkin Upside Down Cake recipe.

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Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Cake

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

For topping:

• 1/4 cup butter melted
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 7 slices canned or fresh pineapple (the majority of a 20oz. can) drained, patted dry
• 7 maraschino cherries drained, patted dry

For cake:

• 1/4 cup butter softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Instructions

 

For topping:

• In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter and brown sugar.
• Spread mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate or 9-inch cake pan.
• Arrange pineapple slices evenly in pie plate over butter-brown sugar mixture, with maraschino cherries arranged in the center of each pineapple slice.

For cake:

• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in pumpkin.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
• Add flour mixture to the mixing bowl alternately with buttermilk, beating to combine after each addition.
• Spread cake batter carefully over pineapple slices.
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Using a knife, loosen the sides of the cake from the pie plate so they don't stick as it cools.
• Cool for 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Cut and serve.
• Best served warm! Store leftovers in the fridge, covered or wrapped.

Keyword pineapple pumpkin upside down cake, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pineapple upside down cake