Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake

You're going to love this utterly retro classic cake! I love turning old favourites into vegan versions, and this Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake is every bit as delicious as the original.

Growing up in Australia, I thought Pineapple Upside Down Cake was so fancy! It was the kind of cake that grown-ups brought out to eat at BBQs and 'Bring a Plate' dinners, while the kids got all excited about ice cream. The golden rings of glossy pineapple with the pretty -yet to my childish tastebuds- weird tasting lurid red cherries were so beautiful to me! Oddly enough, I don't remember my Mum or Granny ever making one, although they did make loads of other cakes, which I will have to veganise at some point too.

this recipe

📜Key Ingredients

• Tinned Pineapple Rings - Make sure you buy the ones in JUICE not in syrup. When I was testing this recipe the first time I accidentally bought the ones in syrup and the cake ended up overly sweet and quite insipid.
• Maraschino Cherries- The pretty red cherries have improved in flavour since I was little (or maybe my tastebuds have changed.) They're slightly redolent of amaretto or almond which adds a lovely flavour profile
• Aquafaba- I use aquafaba to replace the eggs in this recipe. Simply open up a tin of chickpeas (preferably unsalted) and whisk in. This helps bind the cake together. Use up your chickpeas by making a crunchy snack like these Crispy Salt & Vinegar Chickpeas.
• Vegan Butter- Use your favourite vegan brand. I love to use Naturali block (affiliate link) as it has minimal packaging and no palm oil! Plus it tastes really delicious.

👩‍🍳How-To

For the full instructions for this Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake, see the recipe card below.

Making the Upside Down Pineapple Top

1. Drain & pat dry the pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. Save the Pineapple liquid! You'll need it for later!
2. Either use an ordinary tin, or seal a springform tin with some aluminium foil and place on a tray (you need to do this in case the next step leaks!
3. Melt butter and spread around the tin.
4. Add soft brown sugar and spread it evenly over the tin base.
5. Arrange your pineapple rings and halvess, and maraschino cherries in a pretty way. Be sure to push down on them firmly, so that they make contact with the tin base. This makes sure that you can see the lovely colours, not just the brown sugar caramel.

Make the Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake Batter

1. Mix the flour with the baking powder
2. Cream together the softened vegan butter and the sugar.
3. Should look like the third photo below.
4. Add all the liquids together in one bowl
5. Also add to the liquids the 'Aquafaba' (Aka juice from a tin of chickpeas). This is the binder for the cake.
6. Now slowly add the liquid and the butter to the flour, mixing until you have a smoothish batter. (You could use a stand mix for this if you like)
7. Smooth the batter over the top of the pineapple rings and bake.

Release the cake from the tin by sliding a knife around the edge then inverting it onto the plate you would like to serve on. It should slide straight out courtesy of all the butter you used on the top!

❓FAQ

🍰Serving

We think this cake is perfect to serve alongside an afternoon tea

Why not try making some of these other yummy ideas for a real Vegan High-Tea tea-time treat?

• The Best Vegan Scones & Clotted Cream
• Zingy Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
• Vegan Tofu 'Egg' Salad Sandwiches - 3 Ways!
• Vegan "Smoked Salmon" Carrot Lox with Easy Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese on sandwiches!
• Vegan Lemon & Blood Orange Upside Down Cake
• Lemon and Courgette Cake Traybake

We hope you love this Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake as much as we have loved testing it and making it for our friends and family! It's so pretty that it really needs to be shared everywhere, so if you do make it, please let us know in the comments below, and be sure to tag us on Instagram or Facebook!

📖 Recipe

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

A deliciously retro cake that is flipped over to reveal caramelised pineapple rings and maraschino cherries. We made this childhood favourite vegan, because we love to be able to show everyone that delicious can also be cruelty free!

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5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: Australian, Vegan

Keyword: cake, Pineapple

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 12 slices

Calories: 269kcal

Author: Louise-Claire Cayzer

Equipment

• 23 cm/9" Cake tin

Ingredients

MetricUS Customary

For the Pinapple Topping

• 570 g pineapple slices in juice (NOT SYRUP!) (roughly one tin)
• 12 maraschino cherries
• 3 tablespoon vegan butter
• 80 g brown sugar

For the Cake

• 225 g plain (all purpose) flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 75 ml Pineapple Juice (reserved from the tinned pineapple earlier)
• 75 ml plant milk (oat or soya, or whatever you like best!)
• 60 ml plain vegan yoghurt (soya or coconut are best)
• 115 g vegan butter (softened)
• 150 g white sugar
• 4 tablespoon aquafaba (the juice from a tin of chickpeas)
• pinch salt

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 180°C/350F°/Gas Mark 4

For the Upside Down Pineapple Top

• Gently drain the pineapple juice from the tin and reserve it for later.
• Lay out the pineapple rings and maraschino cherries on a clean teatowel or paper towel and pat dry
• Melt the vegan butter and pour into your 23cm/9" cake tin (if it's a springform tin, be sure to wrap with tin foil and place on a tray so it doesn't make a sticky mess)
• Spread the butter around, including up the sides, then add the brown sugar, spreading that around.
• Arrange the pineapple slices in a pretty pattern (you can do whole rings, or half rings) Make sure to push down on the pineapple rings firmly so they make contact with the tin. This ensures a lovely golden finish.
• Set aside and make your cake batter.

For the cake

• Measure out your flour into a large bowl.
• Add the salt and baking powder, mix and set aside.
• Cream together the butter and sugar. Either use a hand whisk, stand mixer or the attachement on your food processor
• Whisk together in a small bowl or mixing jug all the other ingredients, including the aquafaba.
• Bit by bit add the liquid and the butter mixture to the flour, beatuing it until you have a smooth batter.
• Pour the batter over the prepared pineapple rings, smooth out and bake for 45 minutes.
• Check to see how it is cooking at 30 mins,If the cake is looking like it might burn, but it isn't cooked all the way through, pop some aluminium foil over the top.
• The cake is cooked when a skewer or chopstick comes out clean.
• Leave to cool in it's tin for 20 minutes.
• Then run a butter knife around the tin, to loosen the edges. Put the plate or cake stand you wish to serve the cake on over the tin.
• Then FLIP carefully but quickly! Give the base a gentle tap and the cake should whoosh out cleanly, courtesy of all that butter we used to line it with!
• Leave to cool completely and serve as is, or with vegan whipped cream or icecream!

Notes

Be sure to use Pineapple in JUICE and not in syrup!

Aquafaba is simply the liquid from a tin of chickpeas. Drain and use the chickpeas for something else.

Keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days, or at room temperature for 2. Not really suitable for freezing.

Nutrition

Calories: 269kcalCarbohydrates: 45gProtein: 3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 146mgPotassium: 112mgFiber: 1gSugar: 29gVitamin A: 544IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 64mgIron: 1mg