Upside Down Cake With Ginger and Rum Roasted Pineapples - Gluten and Dairy Free

Here is a tasty experiment I want to share with you! Regardless of the fact that the cake ended up cracking at the top 🤭 the girls and I loved the flavor of this pineapple upside down cake. I feel like it would be a waste to scrap the whole thing just because of a crack. Aren’t we trying to be less wasteful as a society? Some cooking experiments definitely end up in the 🗑️ but this one was delightful in spite of an avoidable mistake on my part. 

THESE PINEAPPLES!! I wanted to flavor up the pineapples for this cake so I searched the web for roasted pineapple methods and landed on madaboutmacarons.com. I adapted the recipe for what ingredients I had on hand and the combination of sugar, ginger, cayenne, rum, and vanilla came out so warming, juicy, spicy, and sweet. Additionally if you roast the pineapples just a bit longer, say 20-30 minutes more, they become even more candied and it’s a dynamite flavor that would be so delicious served over ice cream. 

For the cake I used King Arthur GF Yellow Cake mix and subbed the milk with pineapple juice and followed the directions for two round cake pans. I make a dairy free whipped cream icing using daiya cream cheese, powdered sugar, and country crock plant cream! 

Yield: 6-8 for double layer round or 8-10 for 9x 13

Author: Brooke McKasson

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Upside Down Cake with Ginger and Rum Roasted Pineapples

Besides the pineapple preparation time, this cake is super easy to throw together! The spicy ginger roasted pineapples would be delicious simply served with ice cream, but they taste amazing in this cake. The whipped cream icing really holds its form and its light flavor complements the cake beautifully!

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 1 H & 45 MTotal time: 2 H & 5 M

Ingredients

For the Pineapples

• One fresh pineapple (I had a ripe Mini Glow), cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 tbsp rum
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix (I used King Arthur Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix)
• 1/2 cup vegan butter (1 stick)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup pineapple juice (I used fresh but canned or jarred would be fine as well)
• Maraschino cherries

For the Whipped Cream Icing

• 1 8 oz container dairy free cream cheese (I used Daiya)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 box Country Crock Plant Cream

Instructions

Prepare the Pineapples

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Place the pineapples in a rimmed baking sheet or glass dish.
3. Add the sugar and two tbsp of the water to a saucepan over medium heat. Stir quickly to combine but then let it sit for about 10 minutes to begin to caramelize.
4. When the sugar turns golden brown, pour in the rest of the *warm* water and add the ginger and cayenne. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Stir in the bourbon and vanilla, then pour the mixture over the pineapples.
6. Roast at 400 degrees for about 50-60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes to make sure the mixture is evenly coated. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line your pan/s with parchment. Spray the parchment very lightly with oil.
2. In a large bowl or a standing mixer, mix the butter and oil together until smooth.
3. Mix in one half of the cake mix.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each egg.
5. Stir in half of the pineapple juice, then the remaining cake mix, followed by the remaining pineapple juice.
6. To Assemble:
7. Place the roasted pineapples in the bottom of your prepared pan/s. Add cherries to one of the round pans or the entire 9x13.
8. Pour the batter evenly into the pan/s.

Prepare the Whipped Cream Icing

1. Chill your mixing bowl and beater/s in the freezer.
2. Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla in the mixing bowl and beat on medium-high until smooth.
3. With the mixer on low, gradually pour in the whipping cream and finally mix on high until stiff peaks form.
4. Assemble the cake by spreading one thick layer of icing to the bottom cake layer, and use the remaining icing to dollop on top of individual slices.

Notes

Source for the pineapples: adapted from Mad about Macarons

Source for whipped icing: adapted from Crazy for Crust

Did you make this recipe?

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