How to make a Dutch-oven Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

PineappleCakeDUTCH PROFESSIONAL
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Servings: 8-10
Total time: 1 hour



What you’ll need:

  • 12” camp Dutch oven
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Parchment paper
  • Nonstick baking spray
  • Heatproof serving plate
  • 1 15.25-oz. can pineapple slices in juice, undrained
  • 1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
  • ½ cup (one stick) cold butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 10-oz. jar maraschino cherries, drained
  • 1 15.25-oz. package Pillsbury traditional yellow cake mix
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅓ cup sunflower oil

Preparation:

1. Reserve 1 cup pineapple juice from the pineapple slices and crushed pineapple. Drain the remainder of the juice.

2. Slice butter into thin pats and arrange in the bottom of parchment paper-lined Dutch oven.

3. Evenly sprinkle brown sugar over the butter.

4. Set pineapple rings over the brown sugar, covering the bottom, side by side, no more than a single layer deep.

5. Place cherries in holes in the pineapple rings and in the gaps between the pineapple slices.

6. In the bowl, combine cake mix, eggs, oil, drained crushed pineapple and the cup of pineapple juice previously set aside. Mix well to remove lumps.

7. Place Dutch oven over 25 coals and allow butter to melt.

8. Pour cake batter over pineapple.

9. Place lid on oven, then transfer 17 coals to the lid, leaving 8 under the oven.

110. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until top of cake is golden brown and an inserted knife comes out clean.

111. Remove lid and, using heavy oven mitts, carefully place a heatproof serving plate upside down over the oven. Carefully flip the oven to drop cake onto the plate. The foil will remain attached to the cake as it drops.

112. Remove foil from the cake and serve.

From The Scout’s Large Groups Cookbook by Tim and Christine Conners


5 Comments

  1. Whenever baking a cake in the dutch oven, you’re better off putting the batter in a pan instead of directly on the cast iron. place 3 small stones or balls of aluminum foil in the bottom of the oven, and set the pan on top of them. This will create an air space between the hot bottom and the bottom of the cake, just as you would have in your oven at home. Less burning! Great results, easier cleanup. Also allows you to do ‘batches’ of items one after another without cleaning the oven in between.

  2. Just get aluminum liners for your size dutch oven – they come in 10, and 12 inch and are not expensive. Cake done, lift out the liner. No mess, no cleanup to speak of.

    Rich

  3. I agree with the 2 commenters above and would probably do either of those things except that sometimes it’s just fun to do it the messy way and more nostalgic and more outdoors-ish!

  4. I’ve made this recipe many times on Scouting campouts – I make it exactly as described here and it always comes out perfectly moist and the Scouts are lined up, wanting seconds before they even get their firsts. I do skip the aluminum foil or parchment paper – a properly seasoned Dutch oven never sticks, especially with the butter you melt in the bottom and you can always use a bit of cooking spray on the side it you are concerned. I put a big serving platter over the dutch oven when it is finished, flip it upside down quickly, and the cake drops perfectly onto the platter for serving.

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