Pineapple Upside Down Cake

ElaineM's Note:

This recipe is by far the best Pineapple Upside Down cake that I've ever made. It is also quick and easy. The cake is very moist and rises much higher than the average recipe. The combination of pineapple cake mix and pineapple juice isn't overwhelming either. I've been meaning to edit this for ages, however it looks so much better if you use dark brown sugar. Also if you'd like more topping, use 3/4 cup butter with 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple
• 6 maraschino cherries, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 (18 ounce) package duncan hines supreme pineapple cake mix
• 1 (4 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 cup pineapple juice, from canned pineapple with a bit of water added
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Melt butter in a 9x13 pan in oven.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter in pan.
4. Drain canned pineapple into a measuring cup.
5. Place pineapple slices evenly in pan, cutting the last two in half to cover pan.
6. Place the maraschino cherry halves in the center of the pineapple slices, cut side up.
7. Combine the rest of ingredients in a large mixing bowl on slow speed for 30 seconds.
8. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
9. Pour batter into pan.
10. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Cool 5 minutes and turn cake out onto a serving platter, pineapple side up.

Reviews

[Tybooty]

If I could give it more, I would! Of course, I made some modifications as I can't just leave well enough alone. Here is what I did...
Regular yellow cake instead of the pineapple cake (cheaper)
Fage 0 Greek yogurt instead of the oil (lower fat and creamier consistency)

Yum yum yum! Thanks Elaine for this recipe! A keeper for sure!

[Grimm's Restaurant Tales]

This is a good cake but you can taste the imitation pineapple in the duncan hines mix. It really bothered me. Seems counterproductive... why not just use yellow cake mix and use pineapple juice instead of the water? I'm not saying the cake wasn't good, but that imitation pineapple flavor was annoying. It reminds me of sonic slushy or snow cone flavoring or something. But very moist, only my husband and I could taste the fake pineapple flavoring bc we have been enjoying a fresh pineapple cake recently from the store and were hoping to have a recipe of our own.

[Kelarae]

This is very good, I made the recipe exactly the same except after you lay down the pineapple rings, I also added crushed pineapple all around the rings to fill in the open spaces. I added the cherries to the ring and all around the crushed pineapple. Then I continued with the steps in the recipe. Turned out very good and really moist, I added a picture of the finished cake.