Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake

Today I am featuring a Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake from a fellow blogger, Jocelyn Delk Adams from Grandbaby Cakes, who just published her first cookbook! Jocelyn is one of my favorite bloggers who is as sweet as can be and is always publishing mouth watering recipes on her blog. I cannot wait to BAKE my way through her cookbook-- it's fabulously filled entirely with cake recipes!

One of my favorite things that I love about Jocelyn is that she created Grandbaby Cakes as a tribute to her grandma, who is known for making incredible cakes. This touches my heart because my blog's name is a homage to my own grandmother whose recipes (and recipes inspired by her) I've featured on my blog. We lost my grandma this summer, so my blog's tribute to her is extra special.

As I mentioned above, Jocelyn's cookbook is filled entirely with cake recipes and is separated into sections by type of cake: bundt cakes, sheet cakes, layer cakes, etc. She offers several fun twists on classic recipes such as this cake as well as Red Velvet S'more Cake, Coffee Toffee Pumpkin Cupcakes, Peach Cobbler Shortcake, and many more! I have been dying to make a homemade caramel cake for years and Jocelyn features two!! Both of which I cannot wait to make. When I make a caramel cake for the first time, I know that it will be one of her recipes.

For my first recipe to bake from this cookbook, I was immediately drawn to this Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake. Dude, this is like two cakes in one! Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is one of my favorites and I adored how it was combined with Hummingbird Cake (which is a banana, pineapple, pecan cake) so I knew I had to try it. I only made a slight change to her recipe, which was to double the brown sugar and butter for the pineapple upside-down portion because I love the sauce it creates and I like it a little more sauce-y (it is reflected below)!

Everyone who has tried this cake immediately fell in love with it! My family loved it and I took some leftovers to work and my co-workers devoured it! My good friend and co-worker, Lisa, planned on saving some for her husband, but ended up eating the entire piece. And one of our faculty members told me that this cake could win a blue ribbon at the state fair. (So Jocelyn-- don't forget to enter this cake at your next state fair!)

I have a feeling that I'll be making this cake again very soon... probably within the next week or so! Please give this wonderful recipe a try and check out the charming Grandbaby Cakes cookbook!

Pineapple Upside-Down Hummingbird Pound Cake
slightly adapted from Jocelyn Delk Adams' Grandbaby Cakes (page 53)

3 c. sifted cake flour
2 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 c. mashed ripe bananas
1 c. canned crushed pineapple, with juice
1 c. vegetable oil (canola is also okay)
1/2 c. sour cream, room temperature
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
2/3 c. light brown sugar, packed
6 whole canned pineapple rings in natural juices (not heavy syrup)
6 maraschino cherries (blotted with a paper towel to pick up any excess juice)

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until combined. Add eggs one at a time, combining well after each addition using an electric mixer and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula. Add the mashed bananas, crushed pineapple, oil, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the matter until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.

Fold in the pecans using a rubber spatula and set the batter aside.

Pour the melted butter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Line the bottom of the pan with pineapple rings and place one cherry into the center of each ring. (Note: The color of the maraschino cherries will bleed from its juice into the cake and the pineapple rings-- to prevent this, dry the cherries with a paper towel before adding it into the pan. It makes it just a little more pretty!) Pour in the batter, making sure to evenly and carefully cover the pineapple rings. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12-16 servings