Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

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Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake recipe is an elevated take on an American classic. A moist and flavorful pineapple upside-down cake uses a buttery pound cake batter and the result is a spectacular dessert.

Flatlay of pineapple upside cake made in a tube pan.

This pound cake is dense, buttery, and moist. The beautiful pineapples and cherries don’t just make this cake gorgeous but add tropical flavor as well.

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

I used my popular Whipping Cream Pound Cake recipe for this show-stopper.

As well, I added brown sugar, butter, pineapple slice, and cherries for the traditional ‘pineapple upside-down’ topping. The brown sugar and butter caramelize and melt into the cake along with pineapple and cherry juice. However, I didn’t stop there with the flavor-explosion. I drizzled a simple syrup made with Amaretta over the entire cake while it was still warm.

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

How do you make a pound cake?

  1. One of the most important tips is to Calibrate your oven.
  2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. The color will a pale yellow. You must use real butter. Margarine will not have the same results.
  3. Next, mix in the room temperature eggs one at a time until they disappear into the batter.
  4. The next step is to add the room temperature whipping cream alternately with the flour until mixed together and smooth. Room temperature ingredients are a must for a fluffy cake.
  5. Pour the batter into a well-greased baking pan and bake until cooked through.

Most noteworthy, because I didn’t want to take any chances of this cake sticking in the pan. I lined the bottom with parchment paper. To do this, trace around the outside and inside of my pan then cut the doughnut-shaped liner out. Next, grease the pan with solid vegetable shortening and place the cut-out in the bottom. Finally, rub more shortening over the parchment paper.

As you can see, the cake came out beautifully.

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

Pound cakes are my favorite dessert to bake. You can get all of my pound cake recipes here, Pound Cakes Reviewed.

As well, I wrote this detailed post on Bake the Perfect Pound Cake that I highly recommend you read. Even if you bake often, there is good information.

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

I recommend this TUBE PAN. I find the cake releases better from a tube pan. Or, this BUNDT PAN. It’s deeper than a regular bundt pan.

Side view of beautiful tube pan baked cake with cherry garnish.

How do you make the Amaretto Glaze?

You’ll make the Amaretto glaze (or syrup) much like you do a simple syrup.

In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup sugar over medium-high heat. Stir and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until the mixture has thickened slightly about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in almond liqueur.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

With a skewer poke holes in the top of the cake. Pour the syrup over the cake and allow to seep in.

This syrup is good over any pound cake, cake, ice cream, waffles, or pancakes.

The syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 1 month.

Tube pan baked cake with pineapples and cherries.

I have shared A LOT of pound cake recipes with you. You can get all the recipes here. Below are some of the most popular pound cakes. For all other recipes go here.

A slice of strawberry pound cake drizzled with cream.

Strawberry & Cream Pound Cake with Jello

Strawberry & Cream Pound Cake with Jello is buttery and moist with two very special flavors. The favorite combination of strawberries and cream is put together in a unique way to make an extraordinary pound cake!
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German Chocolate Pound Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

German Chocolate Pound Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting

Not your traditional German Chocolate Cake, my German Chocolate Pound Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting recipe is full of rich chocolate then topped with a sweetened coconut and toasted pecan icing
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Scratch-made Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe with Key Lime Glaze

Scratch Made Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe with Key Lime Glaze

Scratch Made Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe with Key Lime Glaze is a bright and moist pound cake that is sure to please your palate. Full of flavor, this dessert is great for entertaining.
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Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake

Amaretto Pineapple Upside Down Pound Cake recipe is an elevated take on an American classic. A moist pineapple upside-down cake joins a buttery pound cake for a spectacular dessert.
Author: Paula
5 from 15 votes
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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 16 slices

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 4 tablespoons butter unsalted, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
  • 6 slices pineapple
  • 13+ maraschino cherries stems removed
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup real butter unsalted, at room temperature, no substitutions
  • 6 large eggs at room temperature
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted then measured
  • 1 cup whipping cream heavy cream, NOT WHIPPED
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Amaretto Syrup

  • 3 tablespoons Amaretto
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup pineapple juice

Instructions

The cake pan

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a 12 CUP bundt or tube pan with grease then flour or sugar. I dust it with granulated sugar after I grease it with Crisco shortening. The sugar doesn't leave white areas in the cake. coat with Wilton cake release. As added security to prevent this cake from sticking, I lined the bottom of the pan with parchment paper after greasing the pan. I then greased the parchment paper. 
  • Pour 4 tablespoons melted butter in the bottom of the prepared pan then sprinkle the butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar.
  • Over the brown sugar lay the pineapple rings and add 1 cherry to the center of each pineapple ring. Proceed with mixing the batter.

For the cake batter

  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat until smooth about 2 to 3 minutes on medium speed.
  • Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and heavy cream alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and mix on low to medium until well combined.
  • Pour batter over the pineapple slices in the prepared tube or bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving tray. Make syrup.

For the Amaretto Syrup

  • In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup sugar over medium-high heat. Stir and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until the mixture has thickened slightly about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in almond liqueur.
  • Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
  • Carefully poke holes in the top of the cake with a skewer (the side with the pineapples) and pour syrup over the cake. 
  • Store in an airtight container on the countertop 3 to 4 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 527kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 138mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 122mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 794IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg
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28 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    The pineapple pound cake sounds wonderful, and it looks testy yum….
    Thanks for sharing

  2. 5 stars
    Loving your recipe! Its very easy to follow. A tiny bit of the brown sugar mix bubbled up the sides and over the outside of the pan, lol! It pushed the capacity of my bundt pan. A lightly crunchy sweet crust formed as its cooling, before inverting. Flipped it perfectly with no sticking. I have a patterned bundt pan, not smooth. Just went heavy on the crisco and did a light coat of flour on top of that. The flavor of the vanilla pound cake is dense with a nicely balanced sweetness. It works well with the hugely sweet pineapple and brown sugar topping. As much as I love amaretto, the brown sugar did a good job of making a glaze over the cake once flipped. If it needs more sugar, I might add the glaze tomorrow. But I think it came out just wonderful without. 🙂

  3. I don’t have any amaretto on hand. Someone asked about just using pineapple juice and sugar. Has anyone tried this?

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