Upside Down Coffee Cake

This is the lazy genius version of pineapple upside-down cake. Refrigerator biscuit dough replaces the from-scratch batter, cutting the work down to almost nothing while keeping that caramelized pineapple-cherry topping everyone loves.

Pineapple slices and maraschino cherries go in the bottom of the pan, then a hot brown sugar and pineapple juice syrup gets poured over the biscuits. As it bakes, the sugar bubbles down and around the fruit, creating that sticky, golden glaze that reveals itself when you flip the whole thing onto a plate.

Five ingredients and about 40 minutes from start to finish. This is weekend brunch without an alarm clock.

Kitchen Tips

• Drain the pineapple slices well. Excess juice makes the bottom soggy instead of caramelized and sticky.
• Boil the brown sugar and pineapple juice until it’s a proper syrup, not just warm sweetened juice. It should be bubbly and slightly thickened.
• Cool in the pan for the full 10 minutes before flipping. Too soon and the hot sugar glaze runs everywhere. Too long and it sets like cement and the cake won’t release.
• Run a butter knife around the edge of the pan before inverting to help it release cleanly.

Variations

• Use fresh or canned peach slices instead of pineapple for an upside-down peach version.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the brown sugar syrup for a warm spice note.
• Swap refrigerator biscuits for cinnamon roll dough for a sweeter, spicier twist on the base.