Enjoy this tasty vegan pineapple upside down cake with your friends and family. Made with fresh fruit or canned, it's sure to be a hit with everybody.
Making this pineapple upside down cake from scratch is surprisingly easy because it starts with a wacky cake base. Wacky cakes are a cake recipe that has been around since the depression era and contain no milk, no butter, and no eggs but still give you a sweet, moist, flavorful cake to enjoy.
I took a plain vanilla cake base and turned it into this pineapple upside down cake recipe by modifying things here and tweaking them there. The results are so fabulous that I couldn't wait to share them with you!
Side note, I also did something similar with my Vegan Apple Upside Down Cake.
While I did add butter, it's necessary for the added richness you expect in a pineapple upside down cake.
Why This Recipe Works
- You can use canned fruit or fresh fruit. We love making it with both canned fruits and fresh ones, depending on what we have on hand.
- It's delicious. This eggless pineapple upside down cake is very moist and flavorful. Every bite packs a ton of sweet fruity flavors too.
- It's great for frugality. Even with the rising cost of food prices, avoiding eggs and milk can easily save you a few bucks. With this cheaper cake recipe, you can have a budget-friendly dessert any time you want.
🥘 Ingredients
Vegan butter- You can use regular butter or plant-based butter for this recipe.
Brown sugar- You'll need some brown sugar to create the glaze that goes in the bottom of the pan.
Pineapple- You can use canned pineapple rings or fresh chunked pineapple. I have tried this recipe both ways, and I still can't decide which is my favorite.
Cherries- Use fresh pitted cherries or maraschino cherries.
All-purpose flour- You'll need flour for the gluten structure in the cake.
Baking soda- This will help the cake to rise nicely as it bakes.
Salt- This is a natural flavor enhancer.
Vanilla extract- Another delicious flavor enhancer.
Vinegar- You can use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to help with the leavening in this cake.
Oil- Use vegetable oil or canola oil to help the cake stay moist.
Water- You will need some water to help get the batter to the right consistency.
Orange juice- If you use fresh pineapple, you'll need some orange juice, but if you use canned pineapple, just reserve the juice and use it here instead.
For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.
🍽 Equipment Needed
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🔪 Instructions
Check out how to make vegan pineapple upside down cake with these simple step-by-step instructions:
In a 9x13 baking dish, add ¼ cup of vegan butter and ½ cup brown sugar.
Place the pan into a preheating oven at 350 degrees F. Allow it to cook until the butter melts. Mix brown sugar and butter together in the pan and set aside.
Slice pineapple into ¼-1/2 inch thick slices and then quarter them. Remove the inner corner, as that is where the hard centers/cores are.
Slice cherries in half and remove pits.
Arrange pineapple and cherries in your baking dish. Remember that you want the dome of the cherry pointed down because it will be the top of the cake once baked and flipped.
Set aside.
In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add in vanilla, vinegar, and oil.
Add in water, and orange juice, then mix until smooth and no flour steaks remain.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
Let the cake rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes before flipping it over onto a large surface to reveal the pineapple and cherries on top.
Slice and serve.
🍴 Recipe Tips
Fresh fruits
This easy vegan pineapple upside down cake doesn't take too much work but can be made better with the use of fresh cherries and pineapple. I love the naturally sweet/tart flavors that develop with the cake when using fresh fruits but canned is perfectly fine too if you're looking for something sweeter.
How to remove cherry pits
If using fresh pineapple and cherries make sure to remove the pits and stems from the cherries. I find this easiest by using a rounded frosting tip from my decorating collection and poking the cherries down onto the tip to pop out the seed. Metal straws and other devices can also work well. You can also just cut the cherries in half and use them that way.
For fresh pineapple chunks, making them into rings is really hard and time-consuming. Instead, turn them into wedges about ¼ inch thick. You can scatter them around in nice designs and fit more pineapple per slice.
When using fresh pineapple, I opt for using orange juice as the liquid because it adds a nice citrus flavor and is easier to keep on hand as opposed to pineapple juice. If you plan on using canned pineapple rings, then reserve the juice amount requested and simply use that.
You can make your vegan pineapple cake with canned pineapple and maraschino cherries or fresh. The preference is yours. This vegan upside down cake tastes great either way!
👩🏻🍳 Storage
You can keep this cake well covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Let the cake thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.
💭 FAQs
If you add too much liquid or "too wet" of an ingredient to your cake, you may find that it can get too soggy. This can be especially true if you use larger pieces of fruit, as they will hold more liquid inside until baked.
The butter mixture at the bottom of the pan does more than just add a nice glaze to the cake when it's flipped over. The butter itself helps to act as a non-stick grease so that the cake can come out more easily. This is also a lot easier to do while the cake is warm before the sugar sets up as it cools.
Yes, this is a cake that should be kept refrigerated until serving. Cover it well with plastic wrap or foil, or place it into a sealable cake container for maximum freshness.
More great vegan recipes to try
- Vegan Dinner Rolls
- Vegan Hamburger Buns
- Spiced Vegan Apple Bundt Cake
- Vegan Slider Buns
- Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Vegan plant based butter ($0.40)
- ½ cup Brown sugar, packed (0.19)
- 2 cups Fresh pineapple chunks, ¼ inch thick (1.00)
- ½ cup Fresh cherries, whole and pitted ($0.74)
- 3 cups All-purpose flour ($0.24)
- 2 cups Granulated sugar ($0.44)
- 2 teaspoons Baking soda ($0.02)
- 1 teaspoon Salt ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract ($0.02)
- 2 teaspoons Vinegar ($0.02)
- ½ cup Vegetable oil ($0.24)
- 1 ½ cups Water ($0.00)
- ½ cup Orange juice ($0.27)
Instructions
- In a 9x13 baking dish add ¼ cup of vegan butter and ½ cup brown sugar.
- Place pan into a preheating oven at 350 degrees F. Allow to cook until butter melts. Mix brown sugar and butter together in pan and set aside.
- Slice pineapple into ¼-1/2 inch thick slices and then quarter them, remove the inner corner as that is where the hard centers/cores are.
- Slice cherries in half and remove pits.
- Arrange pineapple and cherries in pan. Remember that you want the dome of the cherry pointed down because it will be the top of the cake once baked and flipped.
- Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Add in vanilla, vinegar, oil.
- Add in water and orange juice then mix until smooth and no flour steaks remain.
- Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes before flipping over onto a large surface to reveal the pineapple and cherries on top.
- Slice and serve.
Notes
Recipe Tips
- You can make your vegan pineapple cake with canned pineapple and maraschino cherries or fresh, the preference is yours.
- If using fresh pineapple and cherries make sure to remove the pits and stems from the cherries. I find this easiest by using a rounded frosting tip from my decorating collection and poking the cherries down onto the tip to pop out the seed. Metal straws and other devices can also work well. You can also just cut the cherries in half and use them that way.
- For fresh pineapple chunks, making them into rings is really hard and time-consuming. Instead, turn them into wedges about ¼ inch thick. You can scatter them around in nice designs and fit more pineapple per slice. When using fresh pineapple I opt for using orange juice as the liquid because it adds a nice citrus flavor and is easier to keep on hand as opposed to pineapple juice.
- If you plan on using canned pineapple rings then reserve the juice amount requested and simply use that.
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