Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cake

Paleo pineapple cake? What?

I was inspired to create this recipe by paleOMG, so you'll recognize some of the portions from her nut free banana bread. If you're not reading paleOMG, you're missing out. Seriously. She's amazing. She has a little bit of a sweet tooth, so her site is full of recipes for paleo treats. And she recently gave up nuts, so I've been sampling her recipes more and more.

Her nut free banana bread was perfection. Instead of three small loafs, I made one large cake and increased the baking time a little. It worked out perfectly. I even whipped up a batch of banana bread french toast with the leftovers. It was a hit!

When I made the switch to pineapple, I wasn't so successful. The cake was a lot wetter than I wanted. Tasty, but soggy. I went to work reducing liquid, changing ratios, and experimenting with cupcakes instead of cake. Thankfully our friends were willing to eat my experiments. When I received multiple requests for the recipe at a recent BBQ, I knew I had found the winning combination.

So, after four delicious tries, I give you...

Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cake

How pretty is that?

Ingredients

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained completely, juice reserved

2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice

4 eggs

1/3 cup solids removed from a can of coconut milk*

4 heaping tablespoons coconut flour

2 tablespoons dark rum

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Coconut oil spray

1 20 oz can pineapple rings

6 cherries, pitted**

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add drained, crushed pineapple, 2 tablespoons pineapple juice, eggs, coconut solids, and rum to a blender and blend until whipped and creamy. Add coconut flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and blend until fully combined. 

Grease a small baking dishs with coconut oil spray. Pour in cake batter and smooth into an even layer.  Float pineapple rings on top of the batter. Place cherries in the centers.

Bake at 375. This is a very wet batter, so even tho the cake passes the knife test, it won't be done in the center. Once it does pass the knife test, continue baking until cake is golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the baking dish. Basically, cook it as long as you can without letting it burn. About 65-75 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.

Bonus Recipe: Pina Colada CupCakes

If you're short on time, or don't feel like running your oven for an hour, make Pina Colada CupCakes instead! Omit the pineapple rings and cherries, prepare the batter as described, grease a mini muffin pan with coconut oil,  distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cups (the blender spout is a God-send for this process). Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes. Again, until the CupCakes start to pull away from the edges. Makes 24.

*Note1: If your canned coconut milk hasn't separated, place it in the refrigerator overnight. The solids will thicken up and rise to the top. I like to keep a can in my refrigerator just in case I get the urge to bake.  Trader Joe's also has a canned coconut cream that works great for recipes. The thickened coconut solids are readily available when you open the can.

**Note2: For a slightly less-paleo treat, you can also used maraschino cherries.