Pineapple Upside Down Cake, with a twist

Everybody loves a retro cake, but let’s make it individual sized!

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I’ve been making this cake for years, and most recently decided to make it in individual portions. I’ve done this two ways – one in a fancy pan that make six of them and also in individual 3″ by 3″ square pans. The curb appeal on the little squares is really high!

The ‘fancy’ pan is by Nordicware and let’s you make six round little cakes, with the pineapple slice fitting neatly into the bottom of the mould. The square ones are individual little pans that are 3″ by 3″. You can, of course be traditional and make the cake big in a regular round or square cake pan. I’ve had my mini square pans for a very long time and don’t see them available online anywhere, but you could use mini cheesecake pans instead.

A little additional prep makes for a sharp looking cake

One of the important things to do is to drain your pineapple slices, and yes, please go ahead and used canned pineapple. I lay the slices on on a couple of sheets of paper towel for ten minutes or so. Dab the tops with another sheet of paper or a clean tea towel. You want to do this so the cake does not get mushy, too much moisture will create a layer of sogginess around the pineapple slices.

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The cherries I’m showing here are Luxurdo brand cherries that come in a jar. You can use regular bright red ones instead, I just like the natural colour of the Luxurdos. Another brand that is very similar is Amarena. Both these brands of cherries are very nice! (Disclaimer: I actually buy these cherries to put in cocktails, but they’re just so good.) Whatever type you use, rinse them in some water and let dry on a towel until the extra moisture is absorbed. Same reason as the pineapple slices. Prevents sogginess and will actually give a more defined look to the top of your cake. An alternative is to use glace cherries which are just sticky and not wet. The individual cakes above have glace cherries.

Easy cake makes this a weeknight dessert

The cake in the attached recipe uses the ‘dump’ method. Doesn’t sound too nice, but what it really means is that you add everything together and you don’t need a mixer. I find that when I’m in a hurry, this is the way to go. What this method uses is canola oil instead of butter so there is no creaming of butter and sugar together. This give you not only a quick cake, but a moist cake!