Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake

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.

This eggless pineapple upside down cake is very moist and flavorful. Every bite packs a ton of sweet fruity flavors too. We love making it with both canned fruits and fresh ones depending on what we have on hand.

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!

🥘  Ingredients

• Vegan butter
• Brown sugar
• Pineapple (sliced rings canned or fresh chunks)
• Cherries (canned maraschino or fresh and pitted)
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
• Oil (vegetable oil or canola oil)
• Water
• Orange juice (or canned pineapple juice)

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

🍽 Equipment Needed

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• 9x13 baking dish
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Mixing bowls
• Whisk

🍴 Recipe Tips

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.

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!

🔪 Instructions

Check out how to make vegan pineapple upside down cake with these simple step-by-step instructions:

1. In a 9x13 baking dish add ¼ cup of vegan butter and ½ cup brown sugar.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Slice cherries in half and remove pits.
5. 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.
6. Set aside.
7. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
8. Add in vanilla, vinegar, oil.
9. Add in water and orange juice then mix until smooth and no flour steaks remain.
10. Pour batter into pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.
11. 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.
12. Slice and serve.

More great vegan recipes to try

• Vegan Dinner Rolls
• Vegan Apple Upside Down Cake
• Vegan Hamburger Buns
• Spiced Vegan Apple Bundt Cake
• Vegan Slider Buns
• Small Batch Cinnamon Rolls

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake

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.

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Cool 10 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Servings: 12

1x2x3x

Calories: 436kcal

Cost Recipe $3.63 / Serving $0.30

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• 9x13 Baking Dish
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk

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.

Nutritional Information

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 77.3g | Protein: 3.8g | Fat: 13.6g | Saturated Fat: 3.8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7.8g | Cholesterol: 10.2mg | Sodium: 409.6mg | Potassium: 157.4mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 50.7g | Vitamin A: 35.6IU | Vitamin C: 38.6mg | Calcium: 25.7mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Author NicoleDurham

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

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