Hi everyone! For my US friends, did you have a good Super Bowl Sunday? Personally I am not a big sports fan, in fact when my husband has sports blaring on TV, I normally get disoriented from the sportscaster’s announcements (why must they yell?) and have a real hard time concentrate on whatever I want to focus on… Though Super Bowl Sunday is a bit different, for me it’s a time to get together with friends, and watch the hilarious multimillion dollar commercials in between the foot ball game. This year we were invited to a great party with lots of wonderful food, we brought along some buffalo wings and a pineapple upside down cake, both were such a hit with the party people, for a novice baker like me, it’s always surprising when baked goods come out eatable, let along getting such positive praises! The following is the super easy recipe, hope you will give it a try also!
BTW one of the little guests at the party told me she will eat any dish with the name of “Upside Down” in it, I thought that was hilarious!
Ingredients
1 box of yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup apple sauce (instead of oil)
1/3 cup orange juice
1 pineapple, peeled and sliced
1/3 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 stick butter
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Prep a 13 x 9 baking dish by wrapping foil and grease all sides with cooking oil
- Cut butter into small pieces and drop into the baking dish, then sprinkle the brown sugar evenly
- Melt the butter and sugar into liquid by placing the baking dish into the oven for around 5 minutes
- Prepare the cake batter by mix the cake mix with water, apple sauce and eggs, mix thoroughly, then stir in orange juice
- Place the pineapple slices onto the melted butter and brown sugar liquid in the baking pan, then pour the cake batter over the pineapple slices
- Bake the cake according to cake mix directions (around 50 minutes). When toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, take the cake out of the oven and place a plate over it then flip carefully, then carefully peel back the foilto reveal the cake. If you prefer, turn on the broiler and sprinkle some more brown sugar over the pineapple, and bake on top oven layer for another 5 minutes for more crunchy sugar coating. Enjoy!
Weeknite Meals 
Oh yummy! Guess I could try something easier for baking cakes like this pineapple upside down cake! I’m so ready to bake now! 😉
Happy week ahead!
Hi Lyn! Yes this was so easy to make, and instead of the 1/3 cup of oil the cake mix asked for, apple sauce did a wonderful job keeping the finished cake moist. I am definitely going to use this recipe again. Let me know your take if you do bake one! Have a good week also.
Delicious~ And I like how you used apple sauce instead of oil 🙂 It’s healthier ~ and it’s surprisingly easy! I always thought it was hard to make a pineapple cake hehe but what is a yellow cake? Is that just a vanilla cake mix? ~ Cuz I don’t think I’ve seen a yellow cake mix before in Hong Kong or Melbourne 🙂
Hi Daisy! Yes I normally use apple sauce instead of oil when it comes to baking, it just makes me feel less guilty this way! Hmmm, I would imagine you can use vanilla cake mix to bake this also, yellow cake mix is pretty common here at US, (http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/supermoist-cakes), it tastes vanilla-ish, just with more yellow food coloring I assume (to go with the pineapple)…
Man your posting at New York is making me antsy! We are thinking about heading to the Northeast this year for Summer vacation, will review your postings carefully so I know where to take the family for some feasts!
Haha! What is “yellow cake mix”? 😉 Seriously the cake looks delicious and I must admit the sweets or cakes I make most often are the easiest ones. It’s such a pleasure when one doesn’t have to worry if the cake will work or not.
My favourite is my chocolate cake (without flour). I make it without counting or weighing ingredients and it always works (but differs every time): it’s sticky, rich, gooey…
Using applesauce instead of oil is an excellent idea!
I totally agree: why do they always yell? Luckily my husband doesn’t watch sports on tv, but if he did I would try to convince him into golf (have you ever watched golf? the commentators are so calm… and it’s nice to look at the cute clothes and beautiful green spaces 😉
Boy, looks like US might be the only place that has “Yellow Cake Mix”? I am really not a good baker, so anytime I can use baking mixes that will ensure good results, I am in!
Your apple cake is the one I must try, would love to make the chocolate cake but my skin breaks out with the slightest ingestion of chocolate, so no luck there…
Hahahah, love your comments about golf programs, they are definitely calm and non-yelly… Though my husband loves basketball and football, and those commentators are notorious with their loud mouth… I’ve purchased a wireless headphone so he can watch in my office without disturbing my thought process, seems to be working out so far!
This is a great party finger food/dessert Cindy! It’s just the right size and very easy to make. I am not very creative in terms of dessert, so I never thought of simplifying the recipe. I love how you made this pineapple upside down cake! And “slim” stands out nicely… after all we’re still on diet, right? =D
Thank you Nami! I’ve found that when I make cakes from scratch, they are almost always more bread-like than cake-like. So the fool proof way is to use those cake mixes but try to lessen the harm by substitute oil with apple sauce. Yes we are always watching what we eat, though with Lunar new year and Super Bowl party? I really need to undo some serious damage!
Ahh, we don’t have Super Bowl over here. Also, I’ve never made an upside-down cake … Looks really nice, though! 🙂
Thank you Kath, I am sure you are not missing much by not having Super Bowl there, afterall I still don’t know who won, haha!
I wish I had thought of serving this upside down cake during the big game last night. This would definitely beat whatever I had to offer by miles. Your pineapple upside down cake looks so delicious.
Btw I have to agree with your little guest about food with the name “upside down”. I’ve not had any “upside down” that doesn’t taste good so far 🙂
Thank you Yi! BTW I am now curious as to what you served at the big game last night? My Mom said she saw the photo of my upside down cake and didn’t know what it was,haahah, she’s a straight shooter and I love her for it!
What other upside down food is there? My brain is cranking but it’s coming up empty!
Hi Jeno! I love that you used applesauce instead of oil for this cake – It looks so moist and delicious! Pineapple upside down cake is one of my favorites but I really limit how many times I enjoy it due to its richness. Maybe now I can enjoy it a little more! Hope you and your daughter are doing well. Have a great weekend!
Hi Georgia, thank you for visiting and for the compliments, I really enjoy all your postings, and looks like you’ve settled in at Austin comfortably! The wine tasting party is so beautifully done, what a great idea! Have a good weekend!
that’s way different from the pineapple tarts i usually have. No doubt that this would taste better with the pineapple chunks on top 😀
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Hi FiSh, love your nickname! Hahaha we did enjoy the pineapple upside down cake, even tough my Mom laughed at how it looked. Going to do some browsing on your site, loved your modeling posting!