Pineapple Upside Down Cake: A Chocolate Version
A retro pineapple upside down cake, popular in the 1970s. This recipe is for a chocolate version made with fresh pineapple, though it’s fine to use tinned for convenience. Serve warm with ice cream for dessert or at room temperature for afternoon tea.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Pineapple upside-down cake was popularised in the US in the 1920s when tinned pineapple started to become widely available. The exact origin is debated, but a recipe for “pineapple glace” appeared in a Seattle charity cookbook in 1924. And in 1925 a tinned pineapple company held a pineapple recipe competition.
The winning number was pineapple upside-down cake from Virginia. The company promoted it and the rest, as they say, is history.
However, here in the UK it’s associated more with the 1970s. In fact it was a classic bake back then and no self-respecting tea shop would be without one.
So What Is A Pineapple Upside Down Cake?
It’s a sponge cake served upside down so that the pineapple rings, that were originally at the bottom, are on the top. A bright red glace cherry sits cheerily in the middle of each ring.
Chocolate Pineapple Upside Down Cake
I blame Chele at the Chocolate Teapot for this one. I don’t think I would have thought of baking a pineapple upside down cake in a million years. Pineapple rings with cherries in the middle were the stuff of nightmares for me when I was a child.
Well, I may be exaggerating a tad here, but this cake was not my favourite. However when I saw Chele’s recipe made with fresh pineapple, I was suddenly interested. Then, whilst out shopping, I saw a half price pineapple which was just about perfectly ripe. What option did I have?
Of course, I wanted to make mine with chocolate. Perhaps not an obvious choice, but I’ve found chocolate generally pairs very well with fruit.
I needn’t have worried, the pineapple upside down cake was delicious – moist, sweet and pineapply. It was great as a dessert served warm from the oven with ice cream, but was equally good as cake the day after and the day after that.
What Type Of Pineapple To Use?
Fresh Pineapple
A good ripe fresh pineapple makes the most delicious upside down cake. But it is a bit of a faff to prepare. You need to skin it, core it and then cut it into segments. If this all seems a bit much or you can’t get hold of fresh pineapple, tinned works absolutely fine.
I used a fresh pineapple for this recipe.
Top Tip
Don’t throw your pineapple skin and core away. Use them to make this delicious and refreshing pineapple shrub drink.
Tinned Pineapple
You can either go for rings or for segments. A large can weighing about 460g (drained wait 260g) should do it). That’s a one pound tin.
Top Tips
- Use the juice in the can instead of the water stated in the recipe to make the caramel.
- For a super 1970s retro feel, use rings and place a glacé cherry in the middle of each ring.
Alternative Pineapple Cake
For a super easy pineapple traybake that requires neither fresh nor tinned fruit, try my pineapple juice cake. As well as juice in the actual sponge, I’ve also drizzled the cake with pineapple and lime syrup. You can even add chilli for a daring twist. It’s delicious.
Other Upside Down Cakes You Might Like
- Apple upside-down cake
- Banoffee upside down shortcake
- Chocolate pear upside-down cake
- Cranberry & orange upside down cake
- Gooseberry upside-down cake with honey
- Plum upside-down cake
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this pineapple upside down cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Chocolate Pineapple Upside Down Cake. PIN IT.
Chocolate Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
Caramel
- 200 g demerara sugar
- 120 ml water
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 1 pineapple
Cake
- 100 g dark chocolate (I used 85% cocoa solids)
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 4 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- 225 g golden caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar and omitted the vanilla extract)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 170 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat) (I used 150g wholemeal spelt and 20g coconut flour)
- 2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
Caramel
- Dissolve the sugar in a pan over a low heat with the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes until syrupy and golden.200 g demerara sugar, 120 ml water
- Take off the heat and stir in the butter.75 g unsalted butter
- Pour the caramel into a 23cm (9 inch) silicone cake mould. Don’t wash the pan.
- Skin and core the pineapple, then chop into small segments.1 pineapple
- Place the segments on top of the caramel.
Cake
- Preheat oven to 160℃ (140℃ fan,320℉, Gas 3).
- Over a low heat, melt the chocolate in the used caramel pan with butter. Stir and leave to cool a little.100 g dark chocolate, 125 g unsalted butter
- Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla extract until really pale and thick. You can do this by hand, but it’s far easier to use electric beaters.4 large eggs, 225 g golden caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Pour the chocolate mixture down the side of the egg bowl and carefully stir until combined.
- Sieve in the flour and baking powder then fold into the egg mixture until just combined.170 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat), 2 tsp baking powder
- Scrape the mixture over the pineapple and caramel. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 50 minutes. The cake is done when it’s well risen and firm to the touch.
- Leave to rest in the pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a serving plate so that the pineapple is on top. Eat warm with ice cream for dessert or at on its own at room temperature for afternoon tea.
oh yummy, that looks totally delish. Ive never seen it made with chunks just with rings.
Nic & Emmalene – why does this seem to be a childhood thing I wonder?
Yes- nostalgia food for me too!
MMMMMMMMMmmm…
wow that takes me back. I didn’t like glace cherries so mum always did a cherry less ring for me. I loved the cake though and can hardly believe I’ve never made it as an adult. Yours looks all the more striking for the choccie backdrop :o)
Dominic – Thank you for saying nice things – always appreciated and thaks for the tip on caramelising pineapple first – that could work really well.
Chele – Well, I have to say I am rather glad you come up with such yummy treats.
Kath – Thank you for that, it does indeed look amazing and not particularly expensive either.
Northern Snippet – Funnily enough, it’s one of mine too!
FoodyCat – you were lucky, my grandmother never made cakes.
Ananda – upside down cakes are well worth trying.
Joanna – I would so love to have a garden in which I could keep ducks and chickens too and an orchard and of course a duck pond. Although, think you are probably right about duck pond and ornamental not quite going together. You do have the forest on your doorstep though – sort of!.
Looks like a whole lot of fun! I love the name ‘upside down cake’ – this one sounds delicious!
I thought maybe you kept ducks in the garden like Celia and her chooks, devoted to exclusive choclette baking adventures…
I used to dream of two things, a forest on my doorstep and an ornamental duck pond with friendly ducks… not really compatible I guess.
I have never tired chocolate upside down cake…thanks for choc hint 🙂
I love pineapple upside down cake! My grandmother used to make a good one. But I have never tried one with chocolate – served with icecream sounds amazing.
chocolate-one of my favourite things!
Choclette, it’s genius! I found a link to it to show you. I wish I had invented it. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3-in-1-pineapple-corer/slicer/F/keyword/pineapple/product/10478
I cheerfully accept all responsability for this one ;0)
Looks so good, I’m going to have to make another one now with the chocolate added! Why didn’t I think of adding chocolate in the first place? lol
another stunner… bet it tasted great… I think there are a lot of fruits that work really well with chocolate that you wouldn’t normally consider… it could have also been nice if you had caramelised your pineapple in a little butter first, this would have added a wonderful taste and a great dark golden colour to compliment the chocolate! x
Thanks Priya – yes succulent is a good word to describe this one.
Thanks CC – we thought it was pretty good.
Thank you Celia – it is interesting trying out all these different things I would never have done if I hadn’t started this blog.
Thank you Kath – but does it peel as well, that was the worst bit?
It looks delicious, as always. My mum has the best gadget in the world in her pineapple slicer. Job done in a quick twist. I was impressed.
Choclette, you really do come up with the most interesting combinations with chocolate. And then make them sounds and look so appealing! 🙂 I’ve never even considered choc and pineapple before…
I love pineapple and I love chocolate cake so I think this one would score big with me!
Thats a succelent and beautiful cake..
CityHippy – Thanks. I’m lucky enough to have two shops in town which sell local organic free range eggs. I’m not always able to get them but use them for preference in baking if I do. I’ve only used coconut flour as a partial substitute so far – let me know if you come up with anything interesting.
Gillian – Yes use either egg – 1 for 1. I always use duck eggs for preference when baking but can’t always get them so will use chicken eggs instead.
Jack – I wasn’t too sure what this would be like before making it, but used an 85% cocoa content chocolate to offset the sweetness of the pineapple. It worked fine, but it would probably have been just as good without.
Sushma – thank you.
Wow that looks very beautiful…you do it really well..
interesting.. but i’m not too sure if it’s a good combination of flavors.
I love the title ‘with chocolate of course’ 🙂
I also love that you use duck eggs in all your recipes. Can I use either egg or does it have to be duck?
A perfectly ripe pineapple is always delicious, cake looks great. Do you have access to duck eggs?
I have been meaning to play around with coconut flour, I keep seeing it and want to see what I can do with it.