Pineapple and chilli upside-down cake with sweet chilli syrup recipe

By Anna Burges-Lumsden

Serves 8-10
Takes 20 minutes to make, 50 minutes to cook, plus cooling
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Adding chilli to a cake might seem strange, but it really compliments the pineapple in this gorgeous pudding.

Pineapple and chilli upside-down cake with sweet chilli syrup

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
250g golden syrup
1 red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
Grated zest of 1 lime
567g canned pineapple rings, plus 1-2 tbsp juice from the can
225g caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
225g self-raising flour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a deep 23cm cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Put the golden syrup, chilli and lime zest in a small saucepan and heat together for 2 minutes. Pour half the syrup into the cake tin, tilt the tin to spread the syrup evenly, then place 7 of the pineapple rings in the base, in a single layer. Save the rest of the syrup to pour over the cake later.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat using an electric hand whisk until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs until combined, then fold in the flour and enough pineapple juice to give a smooth consistency – about 1-2 tbsp. Chop the remaining pineapple and stir into the mixture. Spoon the cake mixture into the tin over the pineapple rings and syrup, making sure that the surface is level.
3. Bake for 45 minutes until golden. (If the cake is getting too golden, cover with a sheet of baking paper.) Insert a skewer into the centre; if the cake is cooked it will come out clean. If there is still mixture on the skewer, return to the oven for 5 more minutes until cooked. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
4. Carefully invert the cake onto a large serving plate. Warm the remaining chilli syrup and pour over the cake. Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature with custard or ice cream.

Nutritional info

Per serving (based on 10): 476kcals, 22.4g fat (13.3g saturated), 8g protein, 67.5g carbs, 48.4g sugar, 0.5g salt

Chef's tip

Don’t use a loose-bottomed cake tin for this as all the lovely syrup will seep out of the bottom of the tin during cooking. For a good selection of tins, visit lakeland.co.uk and johnlewis.com.

Comments

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martianet

July 2

Agreed - it's such a simple and cheap cake to make but looks like it's shop bought. Tastes brilliant too! The chilli gives a lovely twist to an old classic. Served it at work for my birthday with some vanilla icecream and it was a real treat for a hot summer's day.