Pineapple Upside-Down Carrot Cake is rich with warm flavors. Brown sugar caramelizes with butter and candies the fruit making a unique flavor and moist, yet lightly textured, carrot cake.
Pineapple Upside-Down Carrot Cake
This unique combination of a Pineapple Upside down cake and a carrot is out-of-this-world good. Yes, it’s heavenly!! How-ever… it takes a long time to bake so if you’re impatient to join my team. I’m as impatient as they come! You’re still going to want need to make this. Just watch an old episode of Suits and catch up while it’s cooking! I’m totally and completely obsessed with that show!
Really, it all works out, I walk on the treadmill, watch Suits while my cake is baking. Then, I have cake for lunch and everything is right in the world.
No seriously, this cake just may be my new favorite. Brown sugar caramelizes with the butter and pineapple juice. The pineapple, cherries, and walnuts become like candy. All this goodness hugs a moist carrot cake.
I’ve had friends that don’t like Carrot Cake tell me they love my carrot cake. I have a secret. Want to know it? I chop the carrots until they’re fine, small pieces. Basically, the carrots just provide moisture for the cake after I get through ‘juicing’ them. I hate big chunks of carrot in Carrot Cake too. By doing it my way, you don’t have those chunks.
While my cake is moist, it’s not dense and heavy. As Goldilocks would say, “It’s just right!”
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary based on products used.
Pineapple Upside-Down Carrot Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 15.25 ounce can sliced pineapple
- 15 large marachino cherries or as many as you want to smush in
- ⅓ cup walnuts whole or chopped (can substitute pecans)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teapoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 and ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups carrots grated or chopped very fine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Wrap aluminu foil around the bottom of a 10 inch spring form pan. Place pan on a cookie sheet or sheet tray that has a lip.
- Melt butter in 10 inch springform pan while oven is preheating.
- Sprinkle brown sugar over butter.
- Drain pineapple and cherries.
- Arrange pineapple slices, cherries and walnuts over brown sugar as shown, or in any design you like.
- Stir together flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt.
- In the bowl of the stand mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
- Fold in carrots.
- Pour batter over pineapple mixture in pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 75 minutes. Test center of cake with wooden pick for doneness the last 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust cook time if center isn't done.
- Cool on wire rack 30 minutes to an hour before inverting on serving tray.
Notes
Nutrition
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Visit all my recommended products at Paula’s Picks on Amazon. Read my entire Privacy Policy here.
DeNaya says
Yum!!! Two of my favorites all in one! I’ll be trying this recipe for sure!
Becca from It's Yummi! says
Talk about dessert perfection…. you just combined two of my very favorite desserts! LOVE this recipe, Paula!!
Paula says
Thanks so much Becca! I LOVE LOVE LOVE desserts, really I should have prob had a dessert blog 🙂