The inspiration for this recipe simply came from some leftover pineapple. I had bought pre-packaged, pre-sliced pineapple and had about a cup of it left — just sitting there in its own juices. So I figured I may as well make something out it instead of letting it go bad.
I’m calling this “pineapple cake” because, although I did follow steps similar to that of a pineapple upside down cake, the cut of pineapple I used as well as the batter I created resulted in a light, fluffy, yet moist cake with the juicy fruit scattered throughout.
A Few Notes About this Recipe: I’ve never really enjoyed pineapple from a tin. But you could certainly follow this recipe with tinned pineapple if you prefer or if that’s all you have on hand. However, if you have fresh, use fresh. And if it’s sitting in residual juices — save those juices! You’ll need them.
As I said, I used pre-sliced pineapple which I actually chopped further into chunks. Because these pieces vary in size — each being no bigger than an inch cubed, the loose and liquid-y batter I used was able to go around the pineapple set at the base of my cake pan. The result: fully immersed pineapple in a deliciously fluffy and moist cake.
Also note that this recipe calls for a blend of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour. When using blended flours, I like to make sure I sift my flours together. For this recipe, I did that twice. Once when combining the flours and once again when adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
Lastly, as I like to do, I’ve made a couple of substitutions to make the cake lighter both in texture and in calories. If you’d like a denser, richer cake, replace the 4 egg whites with 2 whole eggs, the butter substitute for traditional unsalted butter, and replace the brown sugar blend with double the amount of regular brown sugar.
Pineapple Cake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter (I used Brummel and Brown butter substitute ), melted
- 4 to 5 tablespoons residual pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar baking blend
- 1 cup pineapple, cut into chunks
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened cashew milk
- 4 egg whites
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare an 8-inch square cake pan by spraying lightly with oil, lining with parchment paper (use enough so there is an overhang on two sides), and lightly spraying the parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the parchment-lined pan with 1/4 cup of the Splenda brown sugar baking blend.
- Arrange pineapple chunks in rows along the bottom of the pan.
- In a medium bowl, sift both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a separate, large bowl, whisk together milk, egg whites, vanilla, melted butter, the remaining 1/4 Splenda brown sugar baking blend, and 4 to 5 tablespoons of residual pineapple juices.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients by sifting the flour mixture through a fine mesh sieve over the milk mixture.
- Whisk thoroughly to combine until batter is smooth.
- Pour batter over pineapple in baking pan.
- Bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
- Invert cake onto a serving platter, peeling and discarding the parchment paper.
- Cut into 8 equal squares to serve.
