My grandma gave me an old New England recipe for this delicious cake that uses gingerbread instead of the usual yellow cake. Warm with whipped cream to serve.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 1 9×13-inch cake |
Ingredients
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 1 (15.25 ounce) can pineapple rings, juice drained and reserved
- 8 maraschino cherries, or more as needed
- 5 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups molasses
- 1 cup hot water
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Pour the melted butter in a 9×13-inch baking dish, then sprinkle the brown sugar all around. Arrange the pineapple rings in a single layer in the baking dish, placing a maraschino cherry in the center of each ring. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a bowl. Beat 1 cup butter and the white sugar with an electric mixer in another bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and molasses. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients, alternating with the hot water and reserved pineapple juice, until just combined. Slowly pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan, being careful not to move the arranged pineapple slices.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool the cake in the pan completely on a wire rack. When the cake is cool, run a paring knife between the cake and the edge of the pan. Cover the cake pan with a plate, and invert it to tip the cake out of the pan and onto the plate.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 550 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 93 g |
| Cholesterol | 69 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 520 mg |
| Sugars | 54 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Turned out very well, if very rich.
Awesome recipe! My family always adds extra spice to every dessert and this definitely doesn’t need it. It makes the classic pineapple upside down cake something a bit more memorable. I ended up using almost another can of pineapple rings to cover the bottom of the pan. New family fav!
Epic fail. For a party, of course. I used/did everything it called for in the recipe. Including the 5 cups of flour, which I thought was way too much. Within 15 minutes of going into the oven, the batter began to overflow the pan. It did that for the next half hour, with about half of it landing on the aluminum foil below. When it finally stopped, I let it cook the rest of the way. It wouldn’t unmold from the pan, but it tasted great. Go figure. Oh, and I agree with one of the other reviewers that the edges tended to burn before the rest of the cake was done.
This was a nice change from your typical pineapple upside-down cake. It is really moist and I like the spices. Thanks for sharing!
Not very impressed, much too “spicy” for me. Very strong and the bottom burned before the middle of the cake was even near finished.
This is a moist cake but not real dense. The spice is a nice blend but not strong enough that would have you thinking it’s definitely Gingerbread. The pineapple is a nice addition to spice cake and I adore brown sugar and butter. Calculated this recipe to four servings and made four separate cakes in buttered ramekins. Baked in a water bath for even cooking. Let cool. They turned out of the ramekins nicely after running a paring knife around the edges. As a change up from traditional Pineapple Upside Down Cake this is a nice treat.