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Dessert

Dole Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

A cake made with pineapple and brown sugar, baked upside-down and topped with maraschino cherries.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pineapple and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 911 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Dole Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

12–16
Oven350°F (177°C)
Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Drain the juice from the can of pineapple.

  2. Sift flour into a mixing bowl.

  3. Sift the flour again with baking powder and salt.

Make the batter

  1. Cream ½ cup butter in another bowl, then gradually add sugar; cream well.

  2. Beat the yolks and whites of eggs separately.

  3. Add the yolks to the creamed mixture and mix well.

  4. Add flour and milk alternately, mixing well.

  5. Fold in the egg whites and vanilla.

Assemble, bake and serve

  1. Melt the rest of butter in a large frying pan.

  2. Spread the brown sugar over the pan.

  3. Add pineapple. If sliced is used, place slices closely together on the sugar; if crushed, simply pour in the well-drained fruit.

  4. Pour cake batter over fruit.

  5. Bake 45 minutes at 350°F (177°C).

  6. Turn upside-down on serving dish and garnish with maraschino cherries.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1116Calories
30 gProtein
38 gFat
165 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Butter Substitute1 tbsp (14g)102
Cherry1 cup (138g)87
Pineapple1 cup chunks (165g)82
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Pineapple + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together911 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the cake's structure once the batter is baked.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise and turn light.
Butter
Adds fat for tender crumb and rich flavour, and coats the pan for the topping.
Eggs
Yolks add richness and set the crumb; whipped whites add lift.
Brown sugar
Melts into a caramel layer that sweetens and glazes the fruit topping.
Pineapple
Adds moisture and bright acidity that balance the sweet caramel.

The step that matters

Fold in the egg whites. Folding keeps the air whipped into the egg whites, which lifts the cake. Stirring hard knocks that air out and leaves a denser cake.

Swap the pineapple

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla. 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.

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