Gluten-Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake

An upside down cake is usually prepared by including fruit at the bottom of the pan with a mix of butter and sugar before baking. Once baked, it will be inverted and the fruit will be on top of the cake. It’s delicious and very appetizing with little work. The most common upside down cake is the pineapple one. It was first created in America around 1911 when Dole Factory created a machine that cuts the pineapple into beautiful round rings. Our version of Pineapple Upside Down Cake is gluten-free. It’s easy to prepare and you will feel proud to present it to your family. Nobody will notice that it is gluten-free!

Ingredients (for the bottom)

- 1 cup brown sugar

- ½ cup butter (or dairy-free shortening for a dairy-free version)

- 1 can sliced pineapple

- 10 cherries in sugar syrup

Ingredients (for the cake mix)

- 2 tbsp. butter (or dairy-free shortening for a dairy-free version)

- 1 cup sugar

- 4 eggs

- 1 2/3 cups gluten-free cake flour mix

- 2 tsp baking powder

- ¼ tsp salt

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 2-3 tbsp. pineapple syrup (retained from the can)

Method (for the bottom)

1. Use a round cake pan (23 cm diameter).
2. Heat the oven to 180°C.
3. Mix the butter with the brown sugar very well and spread at the bottom of the pan.
4. Lay the pineapple slices on the sugar/butter mix.
5. Put one cherry inside each pineapple slice.

Method (for the cake mix)

1. Beat the eggs and the vanilla extract with an electric beater and add the sugar gradually.
2. Add the eggs one at a time while beating.
3. Add the salt, baking powder, and flour to the mix and beat with a wooden spoon or spatula until all ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Add the pineapple syrup one spoon at a time, and keep mixing until you get a thick cake consistency.
5. Pour the cake mix over the pineapple slices in the cake pan.
6. Bake in the hot oven for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Take the pan out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes only, then turn the cake into a serving plate.
8. Make sure the serving plate has edges because the sugar syrup might drizzle from the cake.
9. You can drizzle some of the pineapple syrup on top of the cake while still warm.
10. Serve the cake with ice cream (if you can eat dairy products).