When I was a kid my aunt always made pineapple upside down cake and I loved it but haven’t had it since I was a kid. In my memory banks I clearly see white frosting so I spent days leading up to this recipe searching the net and cook books for pineapple upside down cake with frosting without much luck. After making the cake and texting a picture to my mom she informed me that all my aunt had done was added Cool Whip. Oh well, the icing made this cake  even better and I am happy that my memory of a childhood favorite was a little off.

Notes:
*Maraschino cherries are traditionally used in between the pineapple. I do not like them so I chose not to use them.  If you would like them they should be baked so stick them between the pineapple on the bottom of the cake pan.

*Want a single layer cake? You will need a 2″ deep cake pan, less pineapple and simply increase the baking time to approximately 45 minutes. I’d check at 40.

*I did not use parchment paper on the bottom of the pan because I was lazy and thought it would waste too much time.  I highly recommend you use it by placing it over the greased pan, then greasing the top and adding the sugar on top.

*If your pineapples don’t flip out with the cake (mine didn’t), don’t stress, simply pull them off the bottom of the pan and place them where they go. No one will ever know.

*Don’t have maple sugar? Substitute with more brown sugar.

*Don’t have white chocolate? It will work fine without, I just look for any excuse to use white chocolate!

*Make frosting while cake is in the oven because it will need to be refrigerated to be workable.

Cake Ingredients:
3 tbsp ground flax
9 tbsp water
2 20 oz cans sliced pineapple in 100% juice (drain reserving liquid)
2 1/2 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp Ener-g egg replacer
1 cup oil (I used sunflower)
1/3 cup pineapple juice
2/3 cup vanilla almond milk
1 2/3 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp maple sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
7 raspberries – I used frozen (optional)

Directions:

Mix flax with water and refrigerate. This needs to be refrigerated for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Grease two 9″ cake pans, cover with parchment paper, grease parchment paper and  sprinkle 1 tablespoon of maple sugar over each pan. Arrange pineapple over sugar (there will be leftover pineapple which I used to decorate the outside.) Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix ingredients from flour to Ener-g.

In a separate bowl (that you may use your mixing apparatus of choice in, I used my smart stick) mix together ingredients from oil to maple syrup. Add flax mixture and mix with electric mixer for 3 minutes or so until it’s bubbly.

Pour wet mixture into flour mixture and stir until most lumps are gone. If you can get it perfectly smooth, awesome! I am never that fortunate. 🙂

Pour batter over pineapple in prepared pans evenly. Tap bottom of pan to get air bubbles to the top. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until a fork comes out clean and the cake has pulled away from the side of the pan. Cool on cooling rack for fifteen minutes and then flip out. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
8 oz vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup butter substitute
3 tbsp pineapple juice
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp vanilla almond milk
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

With a mixer blend cream cheese and butter. Melt white chocolate with almond milk and pour onto cream cheese mixture. Add pineapple juice and mix until smooth. Slowly add in sifted powdered sugar and continue to mix until smooth. Refrigerate until it is stiff enough to work with. The pineapple juice makes this frosting runny so don’t be alarmed.

Putting cake together:
Put one cooled cake layer on serving dish. Add 1/3 of frosting and spread over top. Place second cake layer over the top. Cover sides of cake with frosting. Place raspberries in the middle of pineapples. Fill a plastic sandwich bag or pastry bag with remaining icing to ice around pineapples and raspberries on the top. Use remaining pineapple to decorate the outside of the cake. If you aren’t eating this immediately you will need to refrigerate.

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