I’m starting a retro classic campaign because this Microwave Pineapple Upside Down Cake might just be my best microwave sponge cake to date. It’s so easy to make and I’ve included all my tips and tricks to make sure that you don’t end up with a soggy mess like I did on my first few attempts!
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Upside down cakes are one of those things that have never really gone away but that certainly don’t have quite the recognition they deserve. The soft sponge, tasty fruit and light layer of caramel is the perfect combination. Cooked in the microwave and it is not only a delicious dessert, it’s ridiculously quick too.
I’ve published quite a collection of microwave sponge puddings at this point and they are all extremely popular. Most are recipes that I’ve been whipping up all my life but this one is actually new to me as a microwave version. Like I mentioned in the intro, there were quite a few tests involved to make sure it was perfect.
The biggest issue I came across was the pineapple underneath the sponge batter not having sufficient time to cook, shrink and lose some of it’s moisture. So when cooked directly from raw with the sponge, it was just flaccid and soggy. I also tried using golden syrup as a shortcut to create the thin caramel glaze on the pineapple. The microwave didn’t allow the syrup time to thicken and create the glaze that I wanted.
So I settled on using a little butter and brown sugar for the glaze. And the most important step was microwaving the pineapple in the caramel before adding the batter and cooking further. This two step process still takes less than 10 minutes in total and results in the perfect overall texture and flavour.
How to Serve Pineapple Upside Down Cake
For me this is a warm sponge pudding rather than a cut-and-come-again cake. So I’m always serving it hot and with custard, cream or maybe ice cream.
I love using custard powder custard which I also make in the microwave. But in the images on this page, I’ve served simply with lashings of double cream.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake Ingredients
Pineapple
I’ve used canned pineapple rings for this recipe. You can use fresh pineapple if you prefer but I hate preparing them – it’s quite tricky. Plus cans tend to be pretty economical and I’ve always got some stored in the pantry.
You can buy the rings in juice or syrup. Unlike with my air fried pineapple rings where I suggest making sure you buy the version in juice, it doesn’t matter which you use for this sweet pudding recipe. Either way you must make sure that you dry the rings as well as possible with kitchen paper or clean tea towel. This gives the microwave a little less work to do when dehydrating them.
You can’t seem to buy frozen pineapple rings in the UK but these would be fine to use if you can find any. I would recommend defrosting first so you can dry them well.
You can make a pineapple upside down cake using pineapple chunks – you can buy these fresh, canned or frozen. The cake will taste exactly the same as if you use rings, it simply won’t be as retro pretty.
Glace Cherries
There is nothing more retro than a glace cherry. Whether you’re using them to decorate a traditional sherry trifle or wrapping them in bacon for the tastiest little nibbles, the sugar soaked cherries are tasty little morsels of retro fun.
They keep well as they’re preserved in the sugar so I always have some on hand. But if you don’t have any to hand or simply don’t want to buy any – it doesn’t matter. They’re a fun addition and a pop of colour but you can still have a great pineapple sponge without them.
Butter and Sugar For Caramel
You only need a little butter and sugar for the bottom layer of these dessert. I only entertain the existence of salted butter so this is what I use. If you only have unsalted, it will be fine. You can use a spreadable butter or buttery margarine but the flavour won’t be as good. But it will be better than nothing.
Light brown sugar gives an instant hit of caramel/butterscotch flavour so this is what I chose to use. You could use a white or golden granulated sugar instead. I would not recommend using any sweetener or dark brown/muscovado sugar as the flavour is going to be too pronounced.
In theory you can skip the caramel step entirely but the little layer of added sweetness is welcome and it provides a lovely sheen to the finished cake.
Sponge Ingredients
I prefer to use a light margarine for my sponge cakes but regular butter works just fine. Just make sure it is plenty soft enough before adding to the bowl.
I generally use large eggs but this recipe is so forgiving, using a slightly different size isn’t going to hurt.
Granulated or caster (superfine) sugar will fine to use. Brown sugar is the wrong texture for this sponge so I would avoid that.
Self-raising flour provides the raising agent in this recipe. If you need to use plain (all purpose) flour, you will need to add baking powder to the recipe.
The vanilla extract just adds a little extra flavour to the sponge. I prefer to use the thicker extract rather then thinner vanilla essence. But for a simple recipe like this, use what you have. And if you have to leave it out, it will not be the end of the world.
Be Flexible
I’ve already spoken about using pineapple chunks and missing out the caramel, cherries or vanilla in the recipe if needed.
Rather than omitting, the next way to be flexible is to add! A complementary flavour to the pineapple such as orange or lemon can be added to the sponge. Either in the form of extract or zest. I wouldn’t add juice as this will loosen the cake batter too much.
You can of course use other fruits. Canned fruits are good to stick to because of their soft texture – you will still want to use the two stage microwave technique for most options. Peach slices, apricot or pear halves, mandarin segments or apple slices are all good options to try.
To make a syrupy sauce for the cake, you could reduce down the syrup or juice from the canned pineapple. Add a little sugar if using just juice.
You can also look at all of my other microwave sponge pudding recipe for inspiration on how to mix and match the upside down technique with the various other flavour options.
The Microwave “Steamed” Sponge Pudding Collection
Find all of my best Microwave “Steamed” Sponge Pudding recipes in one easy place. From 10 minute everyday sponges to a festive favourite in a fraction of the usual time, the best thing is you’ll never know they weren’t steamed for hours!
Featuring jam, lemon, chocolate, syrup and mincemeat sponges plus an easy cheat’s Christmas pudding and some custard options to serve with them.
Make Allergy Friendly Microwave Pineapple Sponge
This recipe is free from nuts.
Gluten Free: To make a gluten free version of this sponge, substitute the flour for a gluten free flour blend. Look for an option that says it can be swapped with regular wheat flour on a 1:1 basis. If you can’t find or don’t have a blend which contains raising agents, you will need to add baking powder.
Dairy Free: The margarine and butter can both be easily replaced with dairy free alternatives.
Egg Free: If you can use a liquid egg replacer (whole eggs not just egg white), that should be simple swap.
If you cannot get hold of such a product, use 1 tbsp vegetable oil in place of each egg. The texture won’t be quite the same but you’ll end up with a perfectly serviceable egg free pudding.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Vegetarian or Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
This recipe is vegetarian as written.
To make a vegan version, follow my instructions above for making the cake both dairy and egg free.
Equipment Notes for Microwave Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Microwave
This recipe clearly hinges on having a Microwave.
I use the microwave on full power and the times given are for a 700/800w microwave. If you have a more or less powerful microwave, you may need to adjust the cooking times by 30 seconds one way or the other.
Although saying that, providing that you use an oven safe dish, you could easily cook this in the oven. But it would take about 45 minutes to cook.
Electric Mixer
I almost always use electrical assistance to make a quick sponge batter. It is much easier to get an all-in-one cake mixture to mix properly this way.
For a relatively small amount of mix, I find whipping out my Electric Hand Mixer preferable to using my big stand mixer bowl. But if that is what you have, use it.
You can mix this by hand using just a spatula or wooden spoon but I would usually mix the butter and sugar together first then add the eggs and vanilla then mix before folding in the flour. It’s going to take a couple more minutes but this will ensure that everything is properly mixed together and it will cook evenly.
Cooking Dish
The most important thing to think about here is what dish you will be using to microwave the sponge in. My preference is to use a pyrex casserole dish. Unlike most of my microwave puddings where I use a bowl to end up with a domed shape pudding, this upside down version is better made in something with a flatter bottom.
If you only have a bowl, it will be fine, you’ll just have pineapple up the sides and bottom!
What you should avoid using is melamine or bamboo dishes. They absorb all the heat, get far to hot and leave your food uncooked.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
You can cook the caramel and pineapple slices then set aside for as much as a day or two before making the batter and finishing off cooking the pudding. You may need to add a minute or two to the cooking time if starting with a cold dish.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to make the cake batter more than a couple of hours in advance. Give the batter a quick mix and add it to the pineapple just before cooking.
You can fully cook the upside down cake in advance and then microwave again to heat before serving. But the cake is so quick to cook the first time, you really are going to lose some of the joy and freshness by doing this.
Leftover Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge or just in a cake tin for a couple of days max. It tends to go quite hard if left much longer. Reheating is easy in the microwave – I would only reheat a portion at a time.
You can also freeze leftovers. You can microwave straight from frozen to reheat. Again it is a good idea to both freeze and reheat in portions.
Microwave Pineapple Sponge Pudding Tips
- Be careful handling the cooking dish at all stages of the cooking process. The dish will get hot after each stage of cooking. This is most true when adding the cake batter on top of the cooked pineapple.
- When turning the pudding out, go quick. Place the serving plate over the dish then use a cloth to hold it and flip in one swift movement. It’s hesitation that will cause a mess!
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Fruity Pudding Recipes
The Recipe
Microwave Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Electric Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
For The Pineapple Base
- 25 g Salted Butter
- 3 tbsp Light Brown Sugar
- 6 Pineapple Rings
- 11 Glace Cherries
For The Sponge
- 120 g Margarine - plus extra for greasing
- 120 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- 120 g Self Raising Flour (Self-Rising)
- 2 Eggs
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Make the Pineapple Base
- Cut 25g Butter into small slices or chunks and add to the bottom of your microwaveable cooking dish.
- Microwave on high for around 30 seconds or until all of the butter is melted.
- Tip the dish or use a spatula to make sure the whole bottom of the dish is covered with the melted butter. Sprinkle 3 tbsp Light Brown Sugar over the butter in an evenish layer. Make sure to go right to the edges.
- Dry 6 Pineapple Rings using kitchen towel or a tea towel as much as possible. Keep gently pressing until as much of the juice as possible is absorbed out of them.
- Place one ring in the centre of the dish and then the remaining 5 around the centre ring.
- Microwave for 5 minutes. I like to periodically open the door and restart the timer as this releases some of the steam and will help the pineapple to dry further which is the aim of this step.
- Carefully place 11 Glace Cherries into the holes of each pineapple rings and the inner gaps between the rings.Note: Be careful when doing this as the dish will be very hot as will the caramel/pineapple.
Make the Sponge Batter
- Measure 120g Margarine, 120g Caster Sugar, 120g Self-Raising Flour, 2 Eggs and ½ tsp Vanilla Extract into a medium sized mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl).
- Use an electric hand whisk or stand mixer to beat the ingredients together until fully combined.Note – Do not continue mixing past this stage as you could make the sponge tough.Note – Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is properly mixed in.
Assemble & Cook The Sponge
- Transfer the sponge batter into the microwaveable bowl on top of the pineapple layer. I do this a dollop at a time to try to keep the pineapple from separating or sliding up the sides of the dish.
- Roughly smooth out the top.
- Microwave on full power for 5 minutes if using a glass/pyrex bowl and 4 minutes if using a plastic bowl.
- Once cooked the sponge may look a tiny bit wet on the top but don’t be fooled, the sponge will be fully cooked.
- Use a plastic knife or spatula to loosen the edges of the sponge from the side of the bowl.
- Carefully turn the sponge out onto a serving plate or you can simply use a large spoon to serve straight from the bowl.Note – Be very careful as the pineapple will be piping hot.
- Serve hot with lashings of custard or cream.
Lesley says
I love this pudding and I’ve made it many times this week as it’s so easy.
Sisley says
This has been my favourite of all your microwave cakes. I ADORE pineapple and I can’t wait to make this again.