For this cake I used the Yellow Cake Mix shortcut and the Yellow Cake Recipe also here on the site, links to those are in the Recipe Notes section. I used a fresh pineapple so no juice from a can, so I just made the yellow cake as it is stated on this site.

First thing to do is prep the pineapple. Cut off the top and the bottom. Take the pineapple and stand it on its bottom, using a chef's knife, cut down the side to remove a strip of rind, follow the curve of the pineapple, continue to get all the rind off and and any of the dark spots as well. I used the pineapple in the foreground for this cake, the other two were just cut up for a plate of fruit to snack on.

Now turn the pineapple on its side and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick or so. Once you have all the slices, lay a slice flat and use a pairing knife to cut the core out, very easy to do this.

Pineapple is now prepped, takes all of 5 minutes from start to finished rings.

Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). While it is heating, place the 1/4 cup of butter in the baking dish and put that in the oven to melt the butter. I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish. Once the butter is melted, takes just a few minutes, remove the dish from the oven, spread the butter evenly around the bottom of the dish then sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter.

Arrange the pineapple slices on the bottom of the pan, you can make any pattern you wish. Place a cherry in the center of each ring and in the open areas if desired.

Here is my Homemade Yellow Cake Mix, does not look much, it is just flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Link is listed in Recipe Notes.

To the Yellow Cake Mix, you need to prepare the batter, that link is in the Recipe Notes section as well. To the Mix, you will need to add 3 eggs, 1/2 cup butter, softened, 1 1/4 cups of milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Mix by hand, no need to dirty up a electric mixer. Just mix until the batter comes together for a fluffy and moist cake.

Pour the batter into the pan to even cover the pineapple. Any butter that rises around the edges is perfectly fine and expected, just leave it as is, no mixing at this point, just place it in the oven for 25 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and run a butter knife around the edges, place a baking sheet over the cake and holding both the dish and baking sheet together, flip the cake over and leave the cake pan on the cake for about 5 minutes to allow the butter and brown sugar soak into the top.

Remove the dish, let the cake cool for about 30 minutes, serve warm or cooled completely. Store leftovers in the fridge.