This vegan pineapple upside down cake is made with a moist coconut milk batter and topped with tender baked pineapple and a sweet baked on brown sugar glaze. The best part? No mixer required!
I struggle with desserts a bit. I mean, I have no problem eating and making them, but when it comes to the blog, I sometimes have a hard time making them look pretty. This is especially true for those desserts that are normally considered extra pretty, like pineapple upside down cake. I do okay with boring looking stuff like ice cream, and sloppy old burgers, but something like this, that sits high atop a pedestal cake dish for everyone to gape at, never ends up looking as good as I’d hoped. I think next time I do a pretty dessert recipe I’m just going to slop it up and see how that works out. I’ll eat half the thing and make a huge mess and just go with it, and then I’ll grab the camera and start snapping away. Hold me to this! It’ll work out better for both of us.
In case you didn’t notice, I’m feeling a little insecure about this one. Maybe it was my reluctance to include the traditional maraschino cherries, which, let’s face it, are just for looks. I don’t like them at all, so I just wasn’t down with putting them into my cake, even if they might improve the aesthetic.
Anyway, now that we’ve addressed the look of my vegan pineapple upside down cake, let’s talk about the taste. That part came out fantastic! This sucker was sweet, tender, moist, everything a pineapple upside down cake should be, and vegan! I included a bit of coconut milk in here, which adds not just to the richness, but also gives it something of a piña coloda undertone, which is something you can pretty much never go wrong with. Oh, and bonus: you don’t even need to bust out the electric mixer! The whole thing comes together with nothing more than a spoon and a couple of mixing bowls.
Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
For the Pineapple Topping
- 1 tbsp. coconut oil melted
- 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
- about 1/4 medium pineapple cored and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
For the Cake
- 1 2/3 cups spelt flour could sub all-purpose
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup coconut milk canned
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the Pineapple Topping
- Preheat oven to 350º. Place coconut oil in 9 inch round cake pan. Roll to coat bottom surface and sides. Sprinkle bottom with brown sugar and arrange pineapple slices in a relatively even layer.
Prepare the Cake
- Stir flour, sugar, brown baking powder, baking soda and salt together in large mixing bowl. In a separate small bowl, stir together pineapple juice, coconut milk, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour into dry mixture and stir until thoroughly blended, without over mixing. Batter will be thick.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan, smoothing out the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and invert onto plate. Serve.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.
Joanne says
May 7, 2015 at 6:58 AMPersonally, I have the hardest time photographing cookies! They are always 50 shades of beige and just do NOT look great. But this cake – GORGEOUS. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Jennifer says
May 7, 2015 at 5:10 PMI use to be all about making pretty desserts, and I think after art school I was like “meh”. Some of the cakes were cool in person but I am sure didn’t actually look that pretty if photographed. Now I care more about taste over looks
Ana @ Ana's RocketShip says
May 8, 2015 at 6:29 PMYou don’t have to worry- this cake looks amazing – and so easy to make. And covered in pineapple!
Jennifer Harmon {Peppers and Peaches} says
May 11, 2015 at 9:22 AMThis cake looks to die for!! To the point that I need to make it stat! Glad you did not add the cherries…they are too heavily laden with sugar…not for me.
Denise says
May 21, 2015 at 8:55 AMThe cake looks great :)
I noticed that your method is a little different than the traditional cake tho. The way my grandfather taught me, was to prepare the caramel and pineapple on the stove top in a frying pan with high sides (he used a cast iron pan, but I’ve read recipes using non-stick). Once the caramel is golden brown, place the pineapple around the frying pan and let it brown for a bit. Then remove the pan from the heat, carefully pour in the batter and transfer the pan to oven to bake the rest of the cake.
Either way, it looks like you can’t go wrong with an upside down cake :D
(P.S. the red food colouring used to turn those maraschino cherries red – they are naturally white – is not vegan/vegetarian. You could use fresh pitted cherries when they are in season though. That keeps the sugar down as well. )
Alissa Saenz says
May 21, 2015 at 9:47 PMThanks Denise! Now I want to give your grandfather’s method a try – the carmelized sugar and pineapple sounds like it would be delicious. I might even try baking it right in the cast iron skillet, which I was considering for this recipe, but opted not to on the thought that not everyone would have a cast iron skillet available. It does tend to make everything cook up better though. :)
I didn’t know that about maraschino cherries, but now really I’m glad I skipped them. I’m just starting to see fresh cherries in my area, so maybe I’ll use them next time.
Barbara says
June 24, 2018 at 9:52 AMThats how i do mine. I bought a camping frypan thats handle clicks off so its easy to go from stove top to oven.
Jeanne says
August 15, 2015 at 5:50 PMYour recipe Is fantastic. Perhaps one element missing is the cast iron skillet. Make it in a cast iron pan like they do in the South. Just popped mIne in the oven! Thanks!!
Alissa Saenz says
August 16, 2015 at 9:51 AMThank you! I have yet to try this with cast iron, but I can see how that would be fantastic. Definlitey trying that next time. :)
Enjoy!
simone says
September 1, 2015 at 10:06 AMLovely recipe. Tried it this weekend. I will definitely be making this again!
Alissa Saenz says
September 1, 2015 at 11:41 PMAwesome! Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Simone! :)
Melissa says
November 25, 2015 at 1:13 PMHey Alissa, I found your photos on this website: http://www.ecoagricultor.com/pastel-pina-anana/
They took photos from my blog too and posted them on their website, facebook, twitter and google+. Your photo was posted on their twitter page on Nov.18. Perhaps you’re interested in reporting the copyright infringement to twitter so that they stop using other bloggers’ content.
Alissa Saenz says
November 28, 2015 at 11:38 AMThanks Melissa! I just sent the a message, so hopefully they’ll be cooperative and take the photos down. I appreciate you letting me know!
CMaurice says
May 5, 2016 at 3:37 PMdon’t know what I did wrong, followed the recipe to a tee…and when I inverted the cake, it was approx. 1″ thick, how disappointing.
Alissa Saenz says
May 10, 2016 at 10:15 PMSorry to hear that! As you can see from the photos, it’s not super thick, but definitely thicker than an inch. Was it overly dense as well? If it was you might want to check your baking soda and/or powder. You can test baking soda by sprinkling a bit in a glass of vinegar, and test powder by sprinkling in water. You should see bubbles if they’re working. That’s my best guess – hope it helps!
Nancy says
October 16, 2018 at 9:35 PMI just made the cake as well, and mine turned out to be about 1 inch thick as well. I guess next time I will double the cake portion.
Ranjana says
June 30, 2016 at 7:37 AMCan you sub canned pineapple rings in place of fresh and remaining juice from can as pineapple juice in recipe?
Alissa Saenz says
July 1, 2016 at 9:51 AMI think that would work just fine. :)
M Romero says
August 23, 2016 at 8:23 PMI have a starfruit tree (I live in Miami). Starfruit makes a great upside down cake and I wanted to make a vegan version… your cake worked really well!!! I juiced a few star fruits to sub for the pineapple juice and added a couple of tablespoons rum. It was awesome! Thank you for a great recipe… If you ever chance on some starfruit, try it, it looks beautiful. I am also going to try the cast iron variation suggested in some comments.
Alissa Saenz says
August 23, 2016 at 9:06 PMOh wow! Awesome idea! I’m totally trying that next time I can get my hands on some starfruit. It must look so impressive. Thanks for the inspiration, and glad you enjoyed it. :)
JJ says
October 6, 2016 at 1:40 PMQuestion: should I mix up the canned coconut milk and then measure, or use mostly the pulp? Liquid? Can I use coconut cream, which is less liquid to pulp ratio? I want to be careful of the fat ratio I incorporate so it doesn’t mess up the chemical balance. Thanks!
Alissa Saenz says
October 12, 2016 at 10:52 PMSorry for responding so late! I’d stick with coconut milk, and if you find that it’s separated a bit, just mix it together as best you can. It even helps to warm it up a bit to get the solids and the coconut water to blend.
Tashina says
February 11, 2017 at 7:12 PMMine just came out of the oven and it is to die for!!!!!!! I used a heart shaped cake pan. It’s lovely!! Thank you!! <3
Alissa Saenz says
February 12, 2017 at 12:27 PMYay! That sounds perfect for Valentine’s day! Glad you like it!
robin m says
April 4, 2017 at 11:59 AMI made this cake yesterday and it came out amazing. Will definitely make it again. I used organic pineapple rings and it had exactly 3/4 cup pineapple juice. I had dried cherries so i used them and they taste amazing. I only had date sugar and that worked fine for the glaze and in the batter. I had just opened a can of lite coconut milk so used it and everything turned out amazing.
Glad i found this recipe.
enjoy…..robin m
Alissa Saenz says
April 7, 2017 at 9:08 PMI’m so glad you enjoyed it! And good to know that date sugar worked out – I’ve been meaning to incorporate it into more of my recipes. Thanks Robin!
Angie says
July 19, 2017 at 5:36 PMI am making this for a party Friday night. Do you think I could make it tonight (Wednesday night), or would it dry out too much? Thanks!
Alissa Saenz says
July 21, 2017 at 2:50 PMAh, it’s Friday now and I just saw this! Sorry! Well, for future reference, I think if you keep it covered it will be fine to make a couple of days ahead. :)
Rebecca says
August 5, 2017 at 4:51 AMI just made this tonight it it was delicious! It was so moist and the edges were crispy and gooey with the topping. I doubled the brown sugar topping , I used crushed pineapple.that i strained and squeezed out a little, and used coconut milk from the carton.
If you double the amount of brown sugar and oil for the topping I recommend using slightly less sugar in the actual cake.
I will definitely make this again, next time with fresh peaches.
Alissa Saenz says
August 6, 2017 at 8:37 PMI’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I’ll bet it’s absolutely delicious with peaches – great idea!
Sherri says
September 2, 2017 at 9:49 AMI just made this and it fell apart when I turned it upside down. And the batter seemed really really thick when I tried to spread it. I used peaches instead of pineapple, which I can’t see causing a problem. I DID however forget to sift the flour and other dry ingredients. Could that make for a denser, thicker batter?? It smells delicious and I’m sure it’s going to taste good, just wondering about the consistency.
Alissa Saenz says
September 4, 2017 at 9:00 PMHmmm…I’m not sure what went wrong. I don’t think skipping sifting would cause it to fall apart. Did you substitute a different type of flour, like gluten-free maybe? Or use a pan that was larger than 9 inches?
Niki says
March 10, 2018 at 2:23 AMThis looks amazing! I can’t stomach coconut oil though. Could I use a different oil for this recipe?
Alissa Saenz says
March 11, 2018 at 9:28 PMI think Canola would work!
Lauren says
July 2, 2018 at 10:02 AMWe love this recipe! My husband requests it for every occasion and we always seem to have the ingredients on hand, which is nice!
Alissa Saenz says
July 2, 2018 at 4:41 PMI’m so glad you’re both enjoying it!! Thanks so much Lauren!
Abygail @ Untainted Tastes says
August 8, 2018 at 4:27 PMI totally need to make this, I’ve been craving this cake for too long, it looks delish!
Alissa Saenz says
August 12, 2018 at 11:01 AMThanks Abygail! I hope you enjoy it!
Shelley Dee says
September 10, 2018 at 12:57 AMA friend made this for our Hawaiian vegan potluck and it was delicious! Nice and moist. Since she said it really was 10 minutes as you wrote, and super easy, I will add it to my recipes. Thanks!
Alissa Saenz says
September 16, 2018 at 3:32 PMYay! I’m glad it was a hit! Thanks Shelly!
Chris Day says
October 29, 2018 at 2:19 PMWhen I inverted the cake the topping and pineapple rings stuck to the pan. It was a disaster! What did I do wrong?! I followed the directions perfectly.
Alissa Saenz says
November 4, 2018 at 2:47 PMSorry that happened! I’m not sure why it did, but one thing you could try if you make it again is lining the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper. Then you can carefully peel it off after inverting the cake.
Charlotte says
November 24, 2018 at 12:34 PMHey! Really want to make this, it sounds delicious. But I only have a large and small loaf tin – do you think the recipe could work in one of these? Might give it a go anyway. Thanks!
Alissa Saenz says
November 24, 2018 at 1:25 PMI think it will work, but you might need to adjust the cook time. I’m thinking it might need a bit longer – I’d start checking it with a toothpick at 35 minutes and every 4-5 minutes after that. Enjoy!
Ciaran says
February 13, 2019 at 4:23 AMI love this recipe!
Just made a few small changes
Muscovado sugar for the topping
Coconut sugar for the cake
Alissa Saenz says
February 17, 2019 at 8:46 PMI’m so glad you love it! Thanks so much!!