I’ve never had Pineapple Upside-Down Cake before. At least, I don’t think I have. If I have, I don’t recall. But for some reason, I wanted to make a Pineapple Upside-Down cake. After taking a peek over a few recipes, I combined them and created this moist, delicious, gluten-free version. When I turned them out of the pans (I used two 8″ pans), my daughter was amazed. “How’d you do that??”. 
She thought it was pretty neat.
I used a recipe for a gluten-free yellow cake for the cake part. However, the recipe did call for a white or yellow cake mix, so you could substitute the cake part with your favorite gluten-free (or regular, if you don’t need gluten-free) cake mix, prepared according to the directions on the box.
Gluten-Free Yellow Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups white rice flour
- 3/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip, could also use plain yogurt)
- 1 cup pineapple juice (or use milk if making a regular yellow cake)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
- Mix the white rice flour, tapioca starch, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum together and set aside.
- Mix the eggs, sugar and mayonnaise until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, milk and vanilla and mix well.
For a regular yellow cake, you can:
- Pour into prepared pans and bake for 25 minutes. Cakes are done when they spring back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Once completely cooled, you can frost as you desire.
OR
- Follow the directions below to make the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 (20 ounce) can sliced pineapple
- 16 maraschino cherries
- Gluten-Free Yellow Cake (recipe above)
Directions:
- Melt the butter and divide between two 8″ cake pans.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly to cover the butter (divided as well).
- Next, arrange pineapple rings around the bottom of the pans, one layer deep (I had 5 rings per pan). Place a maraschino cherry into the center of each pineapple ring (and a few in the middle if you would like).
- Prepare the cake mix as directed above. Pour the batter over the pineapple layer (dividing the batter between the two pans).
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F (or as directed cake mix directions). Cool for 5 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a plate. Do not let the cake cool too much, or it will be stuck to the pan.
Looks beautiful Jeanine and I bet it tasted great
Oooh Jeanine I can almost taste it..right off the page! And it looks so pretty!
Thanks for another old favorite I haven’t had for years. It looks as if I have halve the recipe, great, as ther is only me to eat it. – Margaret
Thanks, Mom & Betty. It was really good.
I don't know why I've never had it before!
Margaret, I'm so glad that you're enjoying some recipes that you have been missing for a while. I'm glad that I can share them with you.
Oh man that looks soooo good!
I just bought a new book “gluten-free baking classics” and it has been fabulous! Even the pizza crust.
Thanks for playing BINGO! Maybe next time I’ll win.
Oh, and just was curious about the Miracle Whip. I haven’t used it in so long. Does in not still have modified food starch? I would love to have egg salad with Miracle Whip!
Hi Lee Ann,
I actually like baking GF, when it's from scratch. But altering other recipes, which use pre-made things (graham wafers, for example), then it's a bit frustrating.
And I did some searching, and you can go ahead & make yourself an egg salad sandwich.
http://recipe-board.kraftfoods.com/topic/Ask-Kraft-Kitchens/Is-Miracle-Whip/1700002496&
(hope that's clickable?? if not, copy & paste it). Kraft labels their gluten items very clearly. If the food starch were from wheat, they would specify that. I feel sort of safe with Kraft, wheat is wheat, not 14 other scientific sounding names.
Jeanine,
Thanks so much for doing that research! Funny how it’s the little things you miss, but egg salad just doesn’t seem right without Miracle Whip!
That pineapple upside down cake looks so good!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe.
My son was asking for upside down cake and I really didn’t want to have to go to all the work of using my old recipes and not being able to eat it.
It turned out amazingly well and was decadently delicious. I served it to company and I got rave reviews.
I did cut down the brown sugar to 1cup and I think I will cut the butter down to 1/3 next time. I also used pineapple chunks for one of the cakes because I was out of rings and it created a neat mosiac effect.
This recipe is absolutely INCREDIBLE! I've used the white cake portion of it in many other recipes as well. This recipe has not only become a staple in our home, but is the main request for family get-togethers now. Thank you!
Thank you for this recipe I mad eit fopr my mother-in-law who said she hasn't had a pineapple upside down cake for 30 years.
This came out great! Very spongy! I had to make changes to use what I had on hand (plus we don't use sugar anymore) so I juggled a little with using honey. Everything tasted yummy! Thank you for sharing!
Wow….this cake is awesome. I did reduce brown sugar on the bottom of the pan to 1/4 cup per pan. It was delicious. I also replaced olive oil for the mayo and next time I'll try replacing apple sauce for part sugar. I also topped with blueberries and it was a huge hit. Thanks for sharing the recipe!