This gluten free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is moist and full of sweet pineapple flavor. It’s a beautiful classic cake that’s perfect for a crowd.
Gluten Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Have you ever had one of those months or weeks where everything just seems to go wrong at once? April has been that month for us. Here’s a quick run-down of everything that has gone awry SO FAR: our water pump broke and had to be replaced, a toilet in one of our bathrooms broke and had to be replaced, my pacemaker went kaput and had to be replaced, our DirectTV satellite connection went out so we switched to cable, and our two-year-old refrigerator is having defrosting/fan issues which will have to get fixed.
I mean, really. Like, for real, really?! When it rains, it pours. My mom always used to say “If I had a duck it would drown.” That pretty much sums up our kind of luck. Everything went at once. I’m pretty sure we just had a whole flock of ducks drown.
Last week I wrote a little bit about my pacemaker issues. Many of you emailed me, sent me messages and left me comments sending me well wishes, healing thoughts and prayers. Thank you SO MUCH for your kindness and kind words – I really appreciate it!
I had my surgery for my pacemaker replacement last Wednesday and it went really well. It was actually the best surgery I’ve had to date, if you can classify a surgery “the best”. I actually got to go home the same day, which was a first for me. The hardest part has been the recovery. It’s hard to let yourself heal when you’ve got two toddlers and a house and family to take care of.
Not to mention, I was so over having zero energy and the inability to do anything that I just want to jump back into everything and get caught up. But since I’m still healing, I definitely have limits and I’m constantly playing defense trying to keep two jumping, screaming, laughing, kicking, giggling, thrashing toddlers away from my incision. I feel like I need to be in a bubble.
I made this gluten free pineapple upside-down cake back in the winter when I was dreaming of spring, summer and warm weather. There’s just something about pineapple that makes you feel like you’re somewhere tropical. This cake has been on my to-do list for a long time and I’m finally getting around to sharing it.
Mainly because I haven’t been in the kitchen in over two weeks. It’s been weird not cooking and baking and I’m glad to get back into it. In the upcoming weeks I’ll be sharing a healthy lasagna recipe and some awesome double chocolate chip muffins among other things. Enjoy!
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Gluten Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
- 1/4 C butter melted
- 1/2 C light brown sugar packed
- 7 slices canned pineapple drained - SAVE THE JUICE FOR THE CAKE!
- 18-20 maraschino cherries
- 1 and 2/3 C gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 C butter melted
- 3/4 C light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1/4 C vanilla yogurt room temperature
- 1/2 C milk room temperature
- 1/4 C pineapple juice reserved from the canned pineapple
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add 1/4 cup melted butter to a 9 inch pie plate and spread the butter around the bottom of the pie plate. Sprinkle 1/2 cup brown sugar over the melted butter. Arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom of the pie plate and place the cherries in the open spaces between slices and inside the holes.
- In a medium bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup melted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar and granulated sugar breaking up the clumps in the sugar. Whisk in the egg, yogurt, milk, pineapple juice and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated.
- Pour the batter over the pineapple slices and bake at 350 degrees for 45-65 minutes* or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cover the cake with aluminum foil if the cake starts to get too brown.
- Cool cake in the pan for 15-20 minutes before inverting onto a cake plate. Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information
Disclaimers
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Facts are estimated and aren't always accurate. Please consult a doctor or nutritionist if you have special dietary needs.
My cake took 42 min. To cook, my oven runs hot. Delicious taste and porous, excellent result!
Your recipe reads ” 1 and 2/3 cups” of flour. It should be more flour.
Hi Valerie, 1 2/3 cup is the correct amount.
Hi! Making this recipe today and can’t wait, but realized the recipe doesn’t say how many eggs to use. I’m assuming it’s one, but just want to be sure. Thank you
Hi Jen, the egg is listed in the ingredients – it calls for 1 like you thought.
Delicious and easy! I used Bob’s Red Mill GF flour and plain Greek yogurt. Omitted the cherries and just served them on the side since some of my family doesn’t like cherries.
I made this today with fresh pineapple slices, maple syrup instead of granulated sugar, pecans instead of cherries, and added rum to the pineapples before adding the batter and baking to make up for the missing pineapple juice.. . It was absolutely delicious and received rave reviews!
Goodness, I was really sorry to hear about those ducks! It sounds like crazy making, glad to hear you are recovering though. Hockey goalie chest plate…. Might be toddler resistant. Maybe.
On to the cake. So, I made this last night, and it is delicious! Here’s how I can tell it’s an awesome recipe. In addition to my celiac, my husband is diabetic, and I don’t need a cake to myself – even if I want one. So I changed some things, frozen pie cherries instead of maraschino, and all but 3T of the sugar replaced with erythritol/stevia. If it hadn’t worked, I might have tried it again or not – but I’d have kept quiet. But, although it isn’t as photogenic as yours it is yummy. Lots of baking recipes won’t tolerate much revision at all. So I subscribed, and dinner was late because I went back to the computer to dive into your recipes. 😂 Thanks and take care!
If the baking mix being used already has xantham gum, should we leave out the extra called for in the recipe? (I have bob red mill’s 1 to 1 gluten free flour mix and it already contains xantham gum)
If your flour mix contains xanthan gum, omit the amount called for in the recipe.
I make this cake using Pamela’s Baking Mix and omit the soda, salt and xanthan gum. It’s the BEST Pineapple Upside Down Cake I’ve ever eaten! Thank you so much for the recipe…my husband is a happy man when I make it.
Sharon, I know this an older post but hope you can tell me if I could double recipe and bake in 9×13 pan and if so how long to bake or just watch it? Thanks xo much, Linda
Just found your blog and this recipe, I’m excited to try it! I do have a quick question, if my GF flour blend already has xanthan gum in it, do I still need the xanthan gum?
Hi Marjorie, so glad you’re here! If your flour blend already has xanthan gum, you can omit the amount I called for in the recipe 🙂
This cake looks so good! I have been craving pineapple upside down cake! Can this be made a day ahead of time and if so, what is the best way to store it?
Yes you could make this a day ahead of time. I would store it tightly covered at room temperature.
Loved the recipe! My LO can’t do dairy so I just made this with a coconut creme instead of the butter and yoghurt. I subbed out the egg for a flax gel faux egg too. I had to go toward the long side of the baking time but it came out great! All of the gluten-eaters in the house approved. Thank you!
@Patti, thankyou so much for your recipe egg adjustments – so helpful!! I’ll give it a try now.
Thanks for the feedback Patti!
I found this recipe via pintrest, and made it a few days ago. So, so very good! Even my gluten eating husband loved it. I’ve been craving Pineapple Upside-down cake, this was the first recipe I tried, and this is it. Great flavor, and great texture. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks so much for sharing this sweetness!
Hi Kristy, thanks for letting me know how much you loved it! Now I’m craving this cake haha
Today was “one of those days” where I came home and wanted cake. Not only cake, a delicious pineapple upside down cake. I was drooling as I smelled it cooking… But guess who dropped the cake onto the bottom of the oven. Oops. Hehe. Enough was salvageable where I could still enjoy it and it was delicious! Thank you so very much for this recipe
Oh no! Glad you were able to salvage some!
I made your GF Yellow Cake last wk. I love peach upside down cake.,so used some leftover frozen peaches on the bottom.Delicious ! Your recipe was great! Hope you get your strength back soon!
Peach upside-down cake sound delicious! I’ll have to try that this summer when I’ve got some fresh peaches 🙂