This super easy pineapple upside down dump cake is sweet, fruity and fluffy. It’s the perfect cake to serve a crowd and it makes a wonderful summer dessert!
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Pin RecipeMy vintage pineapple upside down dump cake recipe is a true classic. It is a cake straight out of a magazine thanks to that pretty pineapple and specks of bright red cherries.
It’s just a picture-perfect cake that really takes no effort at all to put together because like my Apple Dump Cake and Strawberry Dump Cake, it’s a dump-and-go recipe. Anyone can make this pineapple upside down dump cake!
Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake Recipe
Anyone who knows me and All Things Mama knows that I love using cake mixes in new and creative ways. Why make a cake from scratch when you can use a pre-measured, tasty cake mix to give you a head start? I guarantee that this pineapple upside down dump cake with yellow cake mix tastes even better than a cake made in a fancy bakery.
My pineapple cake recipe is put together like a dump cake. This means the ingredients are “dumped” into a pan and then baked. There is no mixing required! All you need to do is put the pineapple slice and cherries in a pan, sprinkle the cake mix on top, add a little melted butter then bake! It is almost too good to be true. This pineapple upside down dump cake recipe proves that you can make amazing, crowd-pleasing cakes quite easily.
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Ingredients for Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Butter – Be sure to use unsalted butter. Most cake mixes already have salt so you don’t want to add too much.
- Dark brown sugar – I like to use dark brown sugar to give the pineapple upside down dump cake a rich, caramel flavor.
- Maraschino cherries – Save the juice from the cherry jar to add to cocktails!
- Pineapple chunks
- Yellow cake mix – Any brand will work, but I like Betty Crocker Super Moist yellow cake mix.
Variations
- Use pineapple slices in place of pineapple chunks. I like using chunks because I feel like you get more pineapple in every bit of cake. However, slices are the more traditional ingredient and will give your cake a classic look.
- Use melted coconut oil in place of butter to make a dairy-free pineapple upside down dump cake. The coconut flavor also goes really well with the pineapple.
- White cake mix will also work in this recipe. It will make a lighter, fluffier cake.
How to Make Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350ºF, then grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Make the sugar layer: Mix 5 tablespoons of the melted butter with the brown sugar. Save the rest of the butter for later in the recipe. Spread the brown sugar butter across the bottom of the greased 9×13 pan, making it as even as possible.
- Add the fruit: Add the cherries and drained pineapple chunks to the pan, distributing them evenly over the brown sugar layer. Try to cover the whole pan with pineapple chunks and cherries so you get fruit in every bite of cake.
- Add the cake mix: Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the fruit in the pan, again making it as even as possible.
- Add the butter: Drizzle the rest of the melted butter over the pan, wetting as much of the dry cake mix as possible. It won’t cover all the cake mix, but that’s okay. Any dry spots will go away as the cake bakes!
- Bake: Bake the cake for about 40 minutes. The edges will be bubbling and the cake will be golden brown.
- Flip: Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. You can then flip the entire pan upside down onto a serving plate or, you can scoop the cake out of the pan and simply flip each scoop upside down onto individual plates. Either serving method works!
Quick Tip
You can make this pineapple upside down dump cake in a 10 inch round cake pan. This will give you a beautiful round cake. The recipe can also be divided into 8 small ramekins, layering the ingredients into the ramekin cups before baking.
How to Store Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake
Once your pineapple upside down dump cake has cooled, you can wrap the pan in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to one week. This cake is quite moist, so it should be refrigerated, not left at room temperature. You can reheat the whole cake pan in the oven or heat portions in the microwave to warm it up again.
FAQs
The trick to flipping a pineapple upside down cake is to flip the cake while it is warm and move quickly. If you go too slow, the cake will just fall out of the pan and crumble. If the cake is too cold, it will stick in the pan too much. I like to put the serving tray directly on top of the cake pan and hold the pan and plate together. Then, I flip in one quick motion. The cake should slide right onto the serving plate!
Canned pineapple and canned maraschino cherries are both very moist. They can make the top of the cake soggy. This is why I like the dump cake method which uses dry cake mix rather than cake batter. The dry mix helps absorb some of this moisture and prevents the top of the cake from getting too soggy.
Let the pineapple upside down cake cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan before flipping. This will give the cake time to set up and get a little more firm, but still be warm enough to pop right out of the pan.
More Easy Cake Recipes
Pineapple Upside Down Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon melted butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 jar (10 ounces) Maraschino cherries, drained
- 2 20 ounce cans pineapple chunks, drained
- 1 box (15.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- Add 5 tablespoons of melted butter to a bowl and stir in the brown sugar. Spread this in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Try to coat as much of the bottom of the pan as possible.
- Add the cherries to the bottom of the pan, spacing them throughout the whole bottom of the dish.
- Add the pineapple chunks to the pan as well, making them cover as much of the bottom of the pan as possible so you get pineapple in every bite of cake!
- Sprinkle the cake mix over the entire pan then use a spoon or your hand to make it as even and flat as possible, covering the whole pan.
- Drizzle the remaining ¾ cup of butter over the cake mix, once again, drizzling it as evenly as possible across the whole cake.
- Bake the dump cake for 40 minutes. The edges should be golden brown and the center of the cake will look set.
- Use a large spoon to scoop the cake, flipping it upside-down on the plate when you serve it. Enjoy while warm with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream as a topping!
