This pineapple cake with blueberry lemon sauce is a refreshing and beautiful summer treat! Enjoy the flavors of pineapple, blueberry and lemon all in one cake with this variation of the classic pineapple upside down cake. It is delicious right out of the oven as a warm dessert, and it is also really good the next morning for breakfast, either at room temperature or even cold, if it is a warm morning. The beautiful colors are a treat for the eyes as well!
I have been wanting to make pineapple upside down cake for awhile, and finally did it yesterday. Why did I wait so long to make it? I really don’t know. It’s quite easy to put together, and it is so tasty! I made it in our cast iron skillet, because that is what the recipe suggested, and cast iron skillets are having quite a comeback lately. I can see why–there is something so deeply rich and flavorful about cooking and baking with them. Though classic pineapple upside down cake uses canned pineapple, I used fresh, because it is easily available right now, and because I just like fresh better. But canned is fine too, if that’s what you prefer.
The cake part of this recipe is based on one I found in my Hollyhocks & Radishes cookbook by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson. I did some substituting, because of the fresh pineapple, and I omitted the maraschino cherries, and a couple of other little things to suit my tastes. The cake comes out moist and very flavorful, with the pineapple slices nestled in a caramelized brown sugar-butter mixture that evokes comforting coffee cakes from my childhood.
The blueberry lemon sauce was inspired by the lemon sauce in the Hollyhocks & Radishes cookbook, but since I had a big bowl of fresh blueberries waiting to be used, I wanted to add those too. I found a very simple and very gorgeous blueberry lemon sauce at Epicurious.com. This sauce is so lovely, and such a luscious shade of deep purple-blue. And it tastes as luscious as it looks, with the powerful flavors of blueberry and lemon complementing each other so well.
We have had quite a heat wave these past few days, but the nights have cooled down quite a bit. Our neighbors came over last night for an impromptu bonfire. My husband has been working on updating our fire pit to make it look pretty, with it deeper into the ground and ringed by big rocks that he dug up from around the yard. After a really busy week, it felt good to sit with friends around a fire. It was a perfect night for a bonfire, because there was almost no wind, so the smoke drifted straight up. The kids made s’mores, and because we were all out of chocolate, they put roasted blueberries in with the marshmallows. Some of life’s best memories have to be planned in advance, but some just come to us unbidden and unplanned and close to home. We just need to be open enough to receive them. This week has been full of those moments.
I hope you all have a great weekend! Stay cool, and if you are looking for a refreshing, fruity, and gorgeous dessert, give this pineapple cake with blueberry lemon sauce a try! I am sharing this recipe over at Angie’s virtual potluck Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by CH @ Cooking From My Heart and Nimmi @ Adorable Life. 
Pineapple Cake With A Blueberry Lemon Sauce
for the cake:
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 7-8 sliced rings of fresh pineapple, about 1/4 inch thick
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup of reserved pineapple juice (if you don’t have enough pineapple juice left from your pineapple slices, fill the rest of the half cup with milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Directions:
In a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or another type of heavy skillet with an oven-proof handle), melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and stir over medium heat for a minute or so, until the sugar and butter are incorporated into a caramelized syrupy mixture. Remove from heat.
Slice the pineapple (reserve as much juice as you can). With a wooden spoon, spread the butter-brown sugar mixture evenly over the surface of the skillet. Place the pineapple slices in a single layer on top of the butter-brown sugar mixture. Set aside while you make the cake batter.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Stir vigorously or beat until combined. Stir or beat in the half cup of pineapple juice/milk (as much reserved pineapple juice as you have, filling the half cup with milk if you don’t have enough juice), vanilla extract, and almond extract.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. With a wooden spoon, gently stir the dry ingredients into the larger bowl with the egg mixture. Stir gently until just incorporated. Pour the batter over the pineapples in the skillet, making sure all the pineapples and the whole bottom of the skillet are covered with batter.
Place the skillet in the oven (again, make sure your skillet is oven-proof! If it’s a cast iron one it should be). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the skillet to loosen the cake. Place a serving plate on top of the skillet. Carefully flip it over. Caution: If your skillet is still hot, use potholders to grab it when flipping it. (I actually had to leave and come back to flip it a couple hours after it came out of the oven, and it still came out of the skillet fine). Top with the blueberry lemon sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
for the blueberry lemon sauce:
Ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons of sugar
- 4 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup of water
- 2 and 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries, divided
- 1 teaspoon of finely grated lemon peel
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice until the cornstarch dissolves. Add the 1 cup of water and half of the blueberries. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about two minutes, while the sauce thickens, crushing the blueberries with a potato masher. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in the remaining blueberries and the grated lemon peel. Spoon the warm sauce over the pineapple cake. The sauce may be used warm, or refrigerated for up to four days, and reheated or brought to room temperature. Any extra sauce can be used over lots of other things, like pancakes, waffles, or ice cream. Enjoy!
The cake recipe is adapted from Hollyhocks & Radishes by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson, and the sauce recipe is adapted from Epicurious.com.
This cake is everything summer. It looks incredible. Your fire pit is perfect. That does sound like a perfect way to end the week. There is something magical about fires, especially in summer. It’s great that you have a relationship like that with your neighbors. Sounds like summer over there! Enjoy!
Thanks, Amanda. I agree, there is something about fires that makes people slow down and think differently. We are lucky to have some good neighbors that we consider good friends. It’s not always the case! Take care and stay cool! I am going to try some different bowl variations, inspired by your latest post!
Looks tempting.. gorgeous cake..
Thank you so much, Lathiya!
Looks positively delicious.
Thank you!
Wow! This looks delicious!
Thanks, Debbie!
What a beautiful cake! The pineapple + blueberry combination is a bit unexpected, but it looks and sounds fantastic. I hope you’re finding ways to stay cool!
Thank you, Mara! It is not a combination I have seen a lot before, but it all tastes great together! It has been a challenge to stay cool lately, but I think some kind of front blew through this morning! It feels much better outside right now!
I love pineapple upside down cake and this blueberry lemon sauce is just taking this cake to a whole new level 🙂 Thanks for bringing this to FF!
Thank you so much, and thanks for co-hosting Fiesta Friday this week!
Oh I’m so going to make that sauce to serve with my pineapple cake! And your husband found those rocks in your backyard? That’s awesome!
Thanks, Angie! The sauce tastes really good over pancakes too. 🙂 I think there used to be some kind of stone wall or fence running through our yard many years ago, so there a lot of big rocks in a certain section. Pretty fun!