Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

My husband was just saying that the official first day of summer is just a month away.  Boy, howdy, I am so looking forward to it!  I'm counting the days, and so looking forward to having my beloved summer break.  I'll have five weeks to enjoy my "practice retirement" without an alarm clock. Essentially, I can do anything I want, and that's exactly what I hope to do.  I have so many recipes to make, and dozens more that I've photographed and simply not had time to edit and upload to share on my blog.  My blog... oh, how I miss not having the time to give it the overdue attention that it deserves.  I hope that many of my internet friends, subscribers and followers haven't entirely given up on me!

I am still very passionate about cooking and baking. My husband says he rarely gets the same thing twice, and he so appreciates all the different recipes I continue to make. My son has moved back from Texas (insert happy mom face, here) -- and while he doesn't live with us any longer, he still comes to visit and eat mom's home cooking. My heart is full, and they are the main reason that I am always trying out new recipes. It's my love language, for sure.

It's no secret that I have a wicked sweet tooth, as does my husband and son.  My husband is a pie lover. Me? Cake. Definitely cake.  One of my very favorite classic cakes is a homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake.  I don't make it very often, but when I do-- I love the way the pineapple slices become caramelized from the brown sugar and butter mixture.  Maraschino cherries are another guilty pleasure. They're just a pretty color, and have a slight flavor of almond (another one of my favorite flavors.)  Red Dye 40 doesn't scare me, because I don't eat these every single day.  Besides, let's face it-- cake isn't a health food. It's just a sugary dessert that makes my taste buds very happy.

 

I spotted this recipe on Taste Hero, and I instantly fell in-love with the idea of making a Pineapple Upside Down cake in a bundt pan (instead of my beloved cast-iron skillet).  But, here's a moment of truth-- I hesitated about making this this recipe, at first, because it uses a boxed yellow cake mix. To be clear, I do not hate cake mixes and I don't judge anyone who uses them. I just  prefer to make my cakes from scratch, because it's fun and rewarding to me.  I do have a fool-proof recipe for homemade yellow cake, and I considered adapting this recipe to not use a cake mix.

However, I did have one box of yellow cake mix and I decided to just go ahead and make the recipe just as it was written. Why not?  If I didn't like the way it turned out, I wouldn't share it with y'all. Since you're reading this post (at least, I hope you are), that means I did like it.  Yes, I did!

Just melt one stick butter and sprinkle one half-cut brown sugar, evenly around a bundt cake pan.
Place half slices of pineapple and one maraschino cherry in between.

For the cake batter, use one box yellow cake mix, pineapple juice, whole milk (just a little bit), one box vanilla pudding mix, eggs and vegetable oil.  Mix together (a whisk is fine). Carefully pour the batter over the fruit and gently even out the batter.  (Don't panic, there is a printable recipe card at the very bottom of this post.)

Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  NOTE: My cake took about 45 minutes to bake. Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes, set a cake plate on top and flip it over.

Doesn't this cake say "summer"?  I think so!

The sun had gone down, and natural lighting was disappearing, as I sliced into this cake.  Anticipation...

TASTING NOTES:  I don't know the original creator of this recipe, but whomever it is... what a brilliant idea to make this cake in a bundt pan! 

The cake is super moist, and the butter/brown sugar caramelized pineapples are delicious beyond anything I can describe.  My son dubbed this "Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake, Backwards" because he ate the cake first, then the pineapple and saved his beloved cherry for the very last. As for me, I'm all about even bites of cake to pineapple ratio...and I do save the cherry for last.  Nobody would guess that a cake mix was used for this, and you don't have to tell anyone! We have a potluck Memorial Day BBQ coming up, and I'm making this again. Only, this time, I will make my homemade yellow cake mix-- only because I can.  Either way, this cake will make a statement to any kind of dinner party or barbecue.  With summer just around the corner, you'll love this cake. I promise you that. 

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.