Name: Famous Dave's Pineapple Upside-down Cake
Ingredients: ⅔ cup packed light brown sugar; ⅓ + ¼ cup butter, softened, divided; 2 tsp vanilla extract, divided; ½ tsp cinnamon; 9 canned pineapple slices; 9 maraschino cherry halves; 2 egg yolks; 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten; ½ cup sugar; 1½ cups flour; 2 tsp baking powder; ¾ tsp salt; ¼ cup shortening; ¼ cup pineapple juice; ¼ cup half and half; ¼ cup buttermilk

Why it works: Vanilla and cherry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 890 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Vanilla + cherrytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together890 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Vanilla + pineappletop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together911 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Pineapple + cherrytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together537 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cinnamon + cherrytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together551 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter: Adds richness and moisture, and helps the brown sugar topping form a glossy caramel layer.
Egg whites: Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and give the cake an airy, open structure.
Egg yolks: Add richness, tenderness and emulsifying fat that helps the batter hold together.
Flour: Forms the cake's structure once it sets in the oven.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the heated batter, helping the cake rise and turn light.
Brown sugar: Melts into a caramel topping and adds moisture and molasses flavour.

The step that matters

Invert the skillet while the cake is warm. Caramel sets as it cools and can stick to the pan. Resting briefly lets the cake firm slightly so the topping releases cleanly when inverted.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, cherry, egg, flour):

Figfits better
Blueberryfits better
Peachfits better
Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, cherry, egg, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Pineapple	1 cup chunks (165g)	82
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Famous Dave's Pineapple Upside-down Cake