This is a hybrid pineapple upside-down cake which I've developed over the years. Instead of pineapple rings, I use crushed pineapple, coconut, and honey. It is very important to cool the mixture of butter and brown sugar before covering it with the rest of the ingredients, preventing the layer of pineapple and the cake mix from mixing prematurely. Makes one 9x13 baking pan.
Ingredients
- stick unsalted butter: 1 piece
- brown sugar: 1 pack (16 ounce pack)
- pineapple in juice, drained and juice reserved: 2 cans (20 ounce cans, crushed)
- yellow cake mix: 1 box (18.25 ounce box)
- eggs: 3 piece
- butter: 0.33333 cup (melted)
- honey: 1 jar (8 ounce jar)
- coconut: 1 pack (8 ounce pack, shredded)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
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Heat a 9x13-inch glass baking pan over low heat on the stove. Add 1 stick butter and heat until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover with brown sugar, mashing it into the butter using a fork. Let cool and refrigerate baking pan until butter hardens, about 15 minutes.
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Remove baking pan from the refrigerator and cover brown sugar mixture with an even layer of crushed pineapple.
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Blend cake mix, 1 cup reserved pineapple juice, eggs, and 1/3 cup melted butter together in a large bowl using an electric mixer until moistened. Beat on low speed for 2 additional minutes and allow batter to thicken, about 3 minutes. Add honey and coconut.
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Pour batter over the crushed pineapple in the baking pan, smoothing to an even layer.
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Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
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Serve while still warm. Cut cake and flip over onto plates, with brown sugar and pineapple on top.