If you're a fan of the classic pineapple cake, you will love this Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Layer Cake! The vintage dessert gets a modern makeover with vanilla buttercream, extra cherries, and a fun stacked look. This cake is perfect for any party!
Hiiiii babes and happy Monday! I am so pumped to be sharing this super fun recipe with y'all today. VEGAN PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN LAYER CAKE. I veganized the classic pineapple upside down cake... and then decided to stack it and turn it into a layer cake! I am obsessed with how adorable this cake is, but believe me when I say it tastes even better than it looks. This pineapple cake is fluffy, tender, and perfectly sweet. And because it's made of two cakes, you get double the gooey, caramelized pineapple & cherry goodness!
If you follow me on Instagram, then you got to see the behind the scenes of this cake... I definitely struggled with deciding how to decorate it! Nothing really felt right. The cake in these photos is actually cake #2, as I made and photographed the first cake and I just hated it. The composition and decorations were just totally off. I was having a weird day. I went back to the drawing board and settled on this sweet and simple naked look, and I love it! It was definitely worth baking it again, as this pineapple upside down layer cake is now picture perfect. Cute with some vintage vibes!
What do I need to make this pineapple upside down cake?
The ingredient lineup for this cake is pretty basic, to be honest! This is just like making a regular white cake, but I swapped nondairy milk for crushed pineapple in the batter. Of course, I also had to do the quintessential caramelized pineapple slices and maraschino cherries on the bottom!
- Crushed pineapple: this is crucial for turning our cake into a pineapple cake! It adds tons of flavor and moisture, and makes the cake so tasty.
- Sliced pineapple in pineapple juice: I used the slices in the bottom of my pans to create the classic "pineapple upside down" look. I like to get the slices packed in juice, as the juice is used in the caramel sauce to add even more flavor!
- Maraschino cherries: I love that these add a sweet vintage look to the cake! I used some in the bottom, and then more to decorate the frosting.
- Vegan yogurt: I usually use Silk soy vanilla yogurt in baking. It helps make the cake soft and fluffy.
- Ground flaxseed: flax is my favorite egg replacer for cakes! It helps add structure but it's virtually flavorless so you can't taste it in the finished product. It's also super cheap and easy to find.
- Sugar: this pineapple cake uses regular white sugar in the cake batter, and brown sugar to make the caramel sauce! Of course, we also need powdered sugar to make the buttercream frosting.
- Vegan butter: this is used both in the cake and the frosting! My favorite is Country Crock avocado oil plant-based butter, but EarthBalance is a good choice as well!
- Shortening: I use this in my frosting to help stabilize it and make it less likely to melt at room temperature! I highly recommend using a "clean" shortening brand as the flavor is not masked at all. You want to make sure your frosting tastes good! My favorites are Spectrum and Nutiva.
- Oil: my white cakes use a combination of vegan butter & oil for the perfect flavor and texture. Vegetable (soybean) oil is my go-to for baking as it has no flavor or color. You are welcome to use any neutral oil you like in here, though!
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder, baking soda, and salt
How do I make this pineapple upside down cake?
- First, make the caramel sauce to go in the bottom of your pans! Just combine brown sugar, vegan butter, and pineapple juice in a small saucepan. Heat until it all melts together and comes to a boil, and then cook until thick and delicious. Yum.
- Grease your cake pans, and pour the caramel sauce in. Next, arrange your sliced pineapple and cherries in the bottom.
- Make your cake batter - this is basically a white cake so it uses the "reverse creaming" method that I explained in my Vegan Baking Basics series. Mix up your dry ingredients with your butter until sandy and well combined. Then add in your flax egg, oil, vanilla extract, and crushed pineapple. This cake batter is dangerously good... don't try it! 😉 Mix until your cake batter comes together!
- Finally, pour your cake batter over your prepared caramel & pineapple slices. Time to bake!
- For the frosting, I made a super simple American buttercream (explained in detail in my first episode of Vegan Baking Basics). All you need is equal parts vegan butter and shortening, and some powdered sugar! I also added a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Beat together until smooth and creamy. Done and done.
- Now... it's time to put it all together! After the cakes were cooled off, I trimmed off the tops to make them level. Then, time to turn them upside down (and pineapple side up). I used a simple large round tip for the frosting for some sweet and simple decorations. I only frosted the edge of the top layer so you could see the caramelized pineapple. Finish it with some cherries on top, and she's ready!
If you're a fan of pineapple upside down cake, I hope you will give this one a try! I was honestly shocked by how much I loved it. Like, this vegan pineapple upside down cake shot straight up to my list of favorite-cakes-ever! It's soft, fluffy, flavorful, and so moist. I'd love to hear what you think if you make it!
Looking for more pineapple desserts?
- Vegan Hummingbird Layer Cake
- Vegan Hummingbird Bread
- Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake
- Piña Colada Smoothie Bowl
vegan pineapple upside down layer cake
Ingredients
- *for topping*
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon pineapple juice
- pineapple slices {I needed 7 total}
- 6 maraschino cherries
- *for the cake*
- 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 6 tablespoon water
- 1 cup granulated sugar + 2-3 tablespoon for topping
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter
- ⅓ cup vegan yogurt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup crushed pineapple
- *for the frosting*
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- additional maraschino cherries to decorate the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray two 6" cake pans with baking spray, or butter and flour well. Set aside.
- First, make the caramel topping. In a small saucepan, combine the vegan butter, brown sugar, and pineapple juice. Heat over medium until the butter and sugar have melted, and mixture is boiling. Cook for1-2 minutes, whisking often, until thickened and caramelized.
- Divide the caramel sauce between your two prepared cake pans. Top with your pineapple slices - I used a whole slice in the center of the pan, with 4 halves around it. I then used small pieces to fill the gaps. I added a maraschino cherry in the center, and half of a cherry in the middle of each half slice of pineapple. You can make whatever design you like. Set these aside for now.
- Next, make the cake batter. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed with the water and set aside to thicken.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- Add in the butter, and beat on low until it's incorporated and has a sandy texture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, flaxseed mixture, yogurt, and vanilla extracts, and add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Next, pour in the crushed pineapple and beat on medium-low until smooth and creamy.
- Divide batter evenly among the two prepared pans.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Set aside to cool. If you have time, I recommend wrapping them in plastic wrap and chilling them in the fridge for a few hours.
- When ready to assemble, make your frosting. With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the vegan butter and shortening until creamy.
- Add in the vanilla extract, then mix in the powdered sugar as needed to create a frosting, and add a pinch of salt. Add nondairy milk as needed if the frosting is too thick and lumpy.
- When the cakes are completely cooled off, cut off the tops as needed to make them flat and level. Invert one cake on your cake plate or stand (so the pineapple is facing up). Decorate with the frosting as desired - I piped small dollops using a large round frosting tip. Top with the second cake, and only frost around the edge so the pineapple is visible. Top your dollops of frosting with maraschino cherries. Serve immediately, or store in fridge until it's time to serve.
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Lolli says
I made the pineapple upside down cake for my husbands birthday this weekend. It was a show stopper. The cake was very moist and delicious. The presentation was the best. I only used vegan butter for the icing and it did great, Piped it with a Pampered Chef decorator which I have never used and the cherries were presented nicely. Thank you for posting this cake and I will definitely make it for another occasion. All your cakes look like they have the “Wow” factor.
alessia says
hi, do you recommend using canned pineapples or fresh pineapples?
valentina says
Hi Alessia, I recommend using canned pineapple in this case for ease, since you need sliced pineapple, crushed pineapple, and pineapple juice. You can replace it with fresh pineapple but it will be more labor intensive to have to prep it yourself 🙂
xixi says
omg thank u so much for this!!! i made it in a heart shape and it came out perfect :))) will b making again for sure!!