Remember pineapple upside down cakes? That's so 80s! But that's exactly when I was growing up and my mom taught me how to make a delicious "bizcocho al revés." This recipe brings a lot of great memories of being in the kitchen with my mom and baking together. Here, we teach you how to make it from scratch so you don't have to rely on a cake mix.
Ingredients:
Cake:
8 tbs or ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅓ cup sour cream
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup whole milk
Topping:
¾ cup brown sugar
1 can sliced pineapples
Maraschino cherries (15-20)
Let’s start this recipe by preparing our cake batter. I will be using the stand mixer today but you can certainly use a hand mixer. Let’s begin by creaming the butter and sugar.
Add the butter and sugar to the bowl and mix on medium for 1 minute. It is very important that you start with room temperature butter to make this process easier. Scrape down the sides and mix on high until the mixture is fluffy, approximately 1 more minute.
When the mixture is fluffy, scrape down the sides and add the eggs and vanilla.
Mix on medium until it is all incorporated. Scrape down the sides as necessary. Once it is all incorporated, add the sour cream and mix one more time on medium until you have a homogeneous mixture.
With the mixture ready, let’s add the dry ingredients - add the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour to the bowl and mix on low for about 15 seconds. While the mixer is still running on low, add the milk to the bowl and continue mixing on low until it is all incorporated. Be careful not to overmix. Once you get a uniform mixture, turn off the mixer and set it aside.
Once the cake batter is ready, let’s preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the oven is heating up, let’s prepare the topping. We will start by preparing the pineapple.
Set aside one pineapple slice whole and cut the rest of the slices in half. Now, we are ready to prepare the cake pan. We are using a 9 inch cake pan that is 2 inches high. Add the brown sugar to the pan and using your hands press down to create an even layer on the bottom.
Make sure that the sugar extends all the way to the edge of the pan.
With your sugar layer is ready, let’s add the pineapple. Start by placing the whole pineapple slice in the middle of the pan. Then, place half slices around it at a small angle as if you were drawing rays of sun around the whole slice of pineapple.
I used 9 half slices on the bottom of the pan. Take the remaining pineapple slices and place them around the sides of the pan.
With your pineapple in place, let’s move on to the cherries. Add cherries around the pan, you can add more or less depending on how much you like them. I usually add a cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice or half slice. You can also add cherries on the sides of the pan. To do that, squish the cherries and then press it down on the side of the pan.
With your topping ready, pour the cake batter into the pan and spread it around. I recommend using a small offset spatula to create an even layer.
This helps ensure a more straight cake top when you bake it. Place the cake pan inside a baking tray lined with parchment paper, this prevents spills and makes clean up much easier.
Bake the cake for 40 minutes or until you insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.
Once the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes or so until you can handle the cake pan with your hands. To unmold lightly shake the pan. Next, put the serving tray on top of the cake pan and flip the cake onto the tray. Set the tray down and lightly knock on the cake pan to make sure that the cake is released and then remove the pan.
Enjoy!
Check out our instructional video, showing how to make this recipe step-by-step HERE.