We’ve been throwing around ideas for summer travel and I’m holding out for another trip to Hawaii while my husband and daughter want to visit the Grand Canyon or Yosemite. I can’t believe I even have to convince them.
Who doesn’t love pool side cocktails, crashing waves and nightly turn down service? In an effort to swing things my way, I am covertly adding some Hawaiian vibes to our regular dinner menu. First up was this easy, scratch pineapple upside down cake.
A Hawaiian Vacation Memory
I know a pineapple upside down cake is so very retro. I’ll also add that it doesn’t even have Hawaiian origins. But, this single layer yellow butter cake was on the menu at Roy’s Restaurant when we last visited Kauai.
I’m very much on the side of dessert every night on vacation is totally acceptable. Remember, I’m going for Hawaiian vibes here. I want to give a subtle reminder of that perfect day in Poipu.
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Easy, Scratch Pineapple Upside Down Cake Recipe
I’m not a baker by any means and I’ve watched enough Great British Bake Off to know that baking with fruit can be troublesome. I followed this pineapple upside down cake recipe from Eugenie Kitchen.
Eugenie has gorgeous photographs and videos. Her recipe calls for simple ingredients but is still a beautiful scratch cake. The one small hiccup I had was pureeing the pineapple that is eventually added to the batter.
I don’t own a standard blender so I used an emulsion stick blender which left the puree slightly stringy.

The cake turned out pretty well. I’m sure most of it was baker error mostly because it was slightly underdone. Some classic recipes call to top the cake with whipping cream but the caramelized fruit and glaze is enough of a showstopper so definitely keep it naked.
I’m not sure this pineapple upside down cake will be enough to convince my husband and daughter that we need to go back to Kauai this summer but it was a sweet start. I think I’ll place some chocolates on their pillows tonight and see where that gets me.
Do you want to see the other Hawaiian vibes recipes I’m planning? Leave us a comment and I’ll make sure to put a post together for those. Mahalo!
More Fun Summer Recipes!
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