Pineapple-Cardamom Upside-Down Cake

I love this recipe, although I cut back to 3/4 tsp on the cardamom. I’ve made this one several times. I make a he topping on the stove and transfer it to my 9” cake pan which is the perfect pan as the batter rises to the top. I do have to bake for a good hour to reach an internal cake temp of 200 where the sides start to pull away. I agree 4 minutes is too long to cook the topping. Most of it stayed behind in the cake pan, but thankfully the pineapple released!

• Susan in San José

• San Jose, CA

• 4/8/2023

This was yummy! However, next time, I'd use much less cardamom (probably they 3/4 tsp.) And. A bit less white sugar. I live in Denver so I made high altitude adjustments, which worked well, but the cardamom was just too intense....and btw, I LOVE the taste of cardamom. My guess is that my cardamom was too fresh but no matter, I think if you start with less and taste as you add, you'll get the right amount. I will tot9use this recipe again. Thanks!

• willowpap

• Denver

• 5/30/2020

A question - when you say Cardamom, do you mean Green or Black/Brown cardamom?

• pastelsunshine

• New Jersey

• 9/11/2019

I have been making this cake for about 18 years, and absolutely love it! I have made two changes, however. Instead of using fresh pineapple, I use a 20-oz. can of pineapple slices. This will also yield about 1 cup of juice, more than enough for the recipe. I also put a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring, just like my Mom used to do! It's almost as good as hers!

• Pattie Geier

• Boston, MA

• 7/14/2019

This is hands down THE recipe to use for Pineapple Upside-down cake. I use the full amount of cardamon, and a fresh pineapple (I ALWAYS double the recipe!) Since I used a pineapple slicer/corer to remove the fruit from the pineapple, I took a knife and cut out the rest of the pineapple left on the skin and then juiced it for the required juice. Amazing. It is definitely a family favorite! My husband requested it for Father's day this year. Be sure to note that it says 3/4 STICK of butter, not 3/4 CUPS. That doubles the recipe, an error I made once while actually intending to double the recipe. In essence, I quadrupled it instead! :-o That's a lot of butter, folks. However, this oversight, caught in time, allowed me to have an extra pan to give to some friends, who were more thrilled to be the happy recipients of my mistake!

• Amareechan

• Seattle, WA

• 6/17/2018

I had never made upside down pineapple cake before and had to make it for a large birthday celebration so I made this one and a much simpler version. This one was AMAZING! I used canned pineapple and added maraschino cherries (bday girl request) to the center of them. The other recipe was good - but nothing special. This one, with the dark rum and cardamom, was everyone's favorite. I will make this again!

• jenngaragliano

• Guerneville, CA

• 5/24/2018

Great recipe! My family loved the cake. I only had canned pineapple at home; so I used that, which turned out fine. Looking forward to making this cake next time with fresh pineapple and the following notes: 3 minutes of cooking the topping as 4 was too long, and topping seemed a little overdone. Add 3/4 cup pineapple juice (instead of 1/2) so that the batter is less dense. Reduce butter for topping to 1/2 cup (instead of 3/4). Omit cardamom, add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla (instead of 1 tsp). Baked in 28 minutes in my oven. After baking, leave in pan full 6-7 minutes to cool before removing from the pan otherwise the edges are too soft and break.

• Nisham

• Oklahoma

• 4/30/2018

Made this cake true to the recipe and got rave reviews. I used two round 9” cake pans (doubled the recipe) and used thin rings of fresh pineapple with maraschino cherries in the centre. Simmered the butter and brown sugar in a pan for the 4 minutes and then transferred to the cake pans. I don’t personally recommend cutting back the brown sugar/butter amount, it forms a lovely crunchy caramelized topping that is so delicious. I used 2 tablespoons per cake of cardamom and just tasted a hint of it, may add an extra one next time. Baked for the entire 45m and came out of the pans super easily and looking gorgeous. Highly recommend.

• spelledwithaj

• Toronto, ON

• 2/18/2018

Spectacular in every way! As suggested by other reviewers, I used only 2 teaspoons of cardamom and it still had a subtle hint of it throughout cake. The cake had a nice soft texture. (Served this with Vanilla ice cream on top).

• kbpoole

• Toronto, CA

• 3/11/2017

Delicious! I replaced both the rum and the pianeapple juice with Marsala wine, since it was what I had. And I don't use cast iron, so I just made the topping on the stove and then transferred it into a springform pan lined with parchment paper.

• JuliaInBoston

• Boston, MA

• 2/21/2017

I have made a few versions of this cake for my husband, and the last has been voted the best. Lucky me, I actually own a "well seasoned ten inch skillet". Using that, the only things altered from the original recipe are that I used one teaspoon cardamon, one half teaspoon powered ginger and one half teaspoon cinnamon. The pineapple juice I used was that in the can of pineapple slices, and the cooking time was 20 minutes more. And it's delicious.

• lagrony

• Seattle, Wa

• 6/20/2016

Delicious! I didn't have any fresh pineapple so I used about 1/2 of a can of tidbits and about 10 cherries. I also didn't have dark rum, but used parrot bay coconut rum. I also heeded some reviews and used only 2 Tbsp of cardamom. This was my first time ever making pineapple upside down cake and I found these directions easy to follow and a truly excellent result. Delicious. I might even use 3 Tbsp of cardamom next time as I didn't find it too spicy at all, though while sifting it was very strong. Again, this is delicious and you can cook it in a greased 9x12 glass cake pan too!

• anm0012

• Columbis, OH

• 12/31/2015

Minor revisions: used 20 ounces of canned cubed pineapple. Reduced butter in topping to 1/2 cup; used a combination of dark and light brown sugar. Added 1 T of rum to topping. For cake, I reduced granulated sugar to 3/4 cup and cardamon to 1-1/2 teaspoons. Left rum out of cake. It wasn't done baking after 30 minutes; it went 45. Came out of pan easily after a 5-minute rest. Really easy and really good!

• guybest

• Santa Fe

• 12/6/2015

我为妈妈的生日做了这个蛋糕。在were ten of us, which gave us each an ample portion. There was not one crumb left. I don't think I've ever served a dessert where every single person virtually licked their plate clean. I did make the cake with only the two teaspoons of cardamon, and I used canned pineapple in its own juice. I did not want to use the rum on the finished cake, but added one tablespoon to the batter and one to the cooking brown sugar and butter. Oh, and since it would not have been pineapple upside down cake to my mother without marischino cherries I added about a dozen of them. I baked it in a rectangular glass pan for a little over 30 minutes. It was sublime. The hint of cardamon and rum were well received and the texture was perfect. I expect this will become one of my "go to" recipes.

• blacktieservice

• Philly

• 7/15/2014

Yummy, hard to get a positive comment out of anyone because they're so busy shovelling this in. It's a straight eating shot, you take a bite and you cant get in in fast enough. The only advice I have, the recipe gives you this option with the cardamom, 2-3 teaspoons. Go with 2. I did 3 and it's just a bit too much but saying that is like saying that your new Ferrari is just a bit too red.

• Raedwulf

• the Okanagan

• 5/30/2014