mama's pineapple upside-down cake

(4 ratings)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Melissa Dommert
Baytown, TX

With 6 kids and a busy household to run, this was one of my Mama's signature desserts and one of our family's favorites. She made it so many times, I think it belonged to her and Duncan Hines! There are other versions that use a white or yellow cake mix, but it wouldn't be the same for me without the pineapple cake inside. Now that Mama does her baking in Heaven, my sisters and nieces and I continue to carry on her tradition! It's so good! The cake in my picture is a 1/2 sheet cake and is double the size of this recipe.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

We can see why Melissa has carried on the tradition of making her mom's pineapple upside-down cake. It's easy to prepare and full of wonderful tropical pineapple flavor. The cake itself is fluffy and moist and looks just beautiful flipped over on a serving platter. Pineapple slices and cherries make for an impressive presentation.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(4 ratings)
yield 12 -16
prep time 15 Min
cook time 50 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For mama's pineapple upside-down cake

  • 1/2 c
    butter or margarine (1 stick)
  • 1 c
    light brown sugar
  • 20 oz
    pineapple slices, drained (1 can)
  • 1 jar
    maraschino cherries
  • 1 box
    Duncan Hines pineapple supreme cake mix
  • eggs, water, and oil for cake mix

How To Make mama's pineapple upside-down cake

Test Kitchen Tips
Be sure to keep an eye on baking time. Ovens are different and ours was done in a little over 30 minutes.
  • Melting butter in a pan in the oven.
    1
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Very lightly spray a 13x9x2-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Put butter in a pan and put the pan in the oven just until butter is melted (maybe 5 minutes).
  • Brown sugar added to the baking dish with pineapple and cherries.
    2
    Remove pan from oven and evenly sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices and maraschino cherries on top of brown sugar.
  • Cake batter prepared and poured over pineapple.
    3
    Prepare cake mix (adding eggs, water and oil) as directed on package and pour batter evenly over fruit.
  • Baking the cake.
    4
    Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.
  • Baked cake inverted out of the pan.
    5
    Let stand for 5 minutes (if you wait too much longer than that the cake will stick in the pan), then carefully invert onto a large serving plate.
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