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.
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