A butter cake baked over caramel and pineapple, then turned out warm.
Pineapple upside-down cake is shared across several cuisines. This Angola entry adapts Felicia Sampaio’s bolo de ananás for a smaller solid round tin. This draft awaits kitchen testing; quantities, yield and timings are estimates for verification.
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 45–55 minutes
- Rest
- 10 minutes in the tin
- Serves
- 10 slices
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Cuisine
- Angolan
The recipe
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Before you start
Measure and prepare the ingredients first. Follow the texture and temperature checks in the method as well as the estimated timing.
Ingredients
Quantities change with servings; cooking times stay the same.
Equipment
- Solid 23 cm round cake tin, at least 6 cm deep paid link
- Small saucepan paid link
- Mixer or sturdy whisk paid link
- Skewer paid link
- Rimmed serving plate paid link
Method
Heat the oven to 175°C conventional. Grease a solid 23 cm round tin at least 6 cm deep. Dry the pineapple rings with kitchen paper.
Heat the caramel sugar and water in a small saucepan until dissolved. Boil without stirring until amber. Carefully pour into the tin and tilt to cover the base. Arrange pineapple rings on top; add optional cherries to their centres.
Beat the butter and batter sugar until pale. Add the beaten egg gradually, beating between additions. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold these into the mixture in two additions, alternating with the pineapple juice.
Spread the batter over the fruit. Bake for 45–55 minutes, until the centre springs back and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out without wet batter. Cover loosely with foil if browning too quickly.
Rest in the tin for 10 minutes. Loosen the edge, place a rimmed serving plate on top and turn out carefully using oven gloves. Hot caramel can run out. Allow to cool before slicing.
Chef’s notes
Use a solid tin, not a springform tin: hot caramel can leak through a removable base.
Tips and variations
Weigh the drained fruit and the shell-free eggs. Extra fruit or liquid can leave the centre underbaked.
Serve with
Cut only after cooling enough to hold its shape. Cherries are an optional decoration shown in the serving photograph.
Storage
Cool, cover and refrigerate at 4°C or below. Use within 3 days. Refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours, or within 1 hour above 32°C.
Nutrition per serving (estimated)
Nutrition has not been calculated. Values depend on the ingredients and serving size.
Allergens
Contains wheat/gluten, egg and milk. Check cherries for sulphites.
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Questions
Can I use fresh pineapple? This draft is written for drained canned rings; fresh fruit needs separate testing.
Sources and recipe context
Kitchen testing not yet confirmed by Sixto Carreon. This is an editorial adaptation. Scaled and reformulated for a 23 cm solid round tin instead of the source’s ring tin. Pineapple juice and optional cherries are specified in this adaptation.
Gastronomias, Felicia Sampaio: Bolo de Ananás
The featured image was adapted from a licensed real photograph using AI-assisted background, framing and lighting edits. It is not a Sixto kitchen-test photograph. The original shows a pineapple upside-down cake with cherries, a shared cake style; it is not a photograph of this exact adaptation. Photographer, licence and editing details are in Editorial Standards.
