Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

A colleague at work commented that his favorite cake was pineapple upside down cake. I often make a Bundt cake for a mid-morning meeting I run and wondered if I could make this traditional dessert in my Bundt pan so I could transport it to work in my Bundt cake carrier. This cake turned out perfect in every way, both moist and flavorful.


I searched online and found a wide variety of sites that were making a pineapple upside down cake in a Bundt pan, so I reviewed them and selected what seemed to be the most common and reasonable approach. Some used whole pineapple rings while others cut them in half. I chose the latter. All the ones I reviewed were made with a box cake mix, which I don't usually prefer, but decided to give that a try instead of making completely from scratch. Why do I prefer not to use boxed cake mixes?  Well the ingredients are scary and certainly not good for you to consume in quantity. So I don't recommend a cake mix often, but it worked well in this situation. As in all things, moderation is called for.




I used the yellow Duncan Hines Super Moist cake mix. If you want a more strong pineapple flavor in the cake, substitute for a pineapple cake mix. I also used my large, classic 15 cup Bundt pan which never runs over when I make this recipe. But others have reported spillage, perhaps because they used smaller pans. In any case, I suggest a baking sheet under the pan just in case.



Ingredients

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 20 ounce can pineapple rings in 100% juice (reserve the juice)
1 Jar maraschino cherries
1 box yellow or pineapple cake mix
1 4-serving box instant vanilla pudding
3 eggs
vegetable oil
milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a classic Bundt pan, spray the pan with food release or butter and flour the pan.

Melt the butter and pour into the bottom of the pan making sure it is well disbursed. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Drain the pineapple juice from the can into a 1 cup measure. Remove the pineapple rings and cut them in half. Place in the Bundt pan using the ridges in the pan to help the rings stay in place. Between each pineapple slice, add a maraschino cherry, which helps to further hold the pineapple in place.

In a mixing bowl, stir the dry cake mix and pudding mix together. If you have less than 1 cup of pineapple juice, add milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Crack the eggs into a small cup and beat lightly. Add the liquid, beaten eggs and the amount of oil called for in the box cake mix to the dry ingredients. Fold together and then using a mixer, combine following the instructions on the box. (Usually vigorous beating for two minutes.)

Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple in the Bundt pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet (to catch butter that that overflows) and bake as instructed for a Bundt cake on the cake mix box. (While the ox usually says 40 minutes, mine usually takes nearly an hour.) The cake is done when an inserted pick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Loosen the edges if necessary with a small knife. Invert the cake onto a serving plate to cool.

Comments