Blaque Shelton

Name: Blaque Shelton's Winning Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 6 tbsp unsalted butter, for the topping; 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar; 7 rings fresh pineapple, cored, 1/2 inch thick; 12 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp fine salt; 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature; 1 cup granulated sugar; 2 large eggs, room temperature; 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 cup whole milk; 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice; 1 tbsp dark rum (optional)

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

S43E2 American · 2026

Maurice "Chef Blāque" Shelton — Netflix Sugar Rush champion from Chicago's South Side, founder of Black Rose Pastries. Beat a pastry chef in Round 1 (secret ingredient: peanut butter), then out-baked Bobby on a diner-counter classic while Taraji P. Henson heckled.

Where to find them

Black Rose Pastries · Chicago, IL (Blaque Shelton)

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

25 min Prep

45 min Cook

8 Serves

Ingredients

6 tbsp unsalted butter, for the topping
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
7 rings fresh pineapple, cored, 1/2 inch thick
12 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1 tbsp dark rum (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, stir in the brown sugar, and cook 2 minutes until it bubbles into a loose caramel. Pull from heat.
Arrange the pineapple rings over the caramel in one layer — one center, six around — with a cherry in each hole. Do not crowd; the fruit shrinks as it bakes.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high for a full 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Alternate the flour mixture with the milk, pineapple juice, and rum in three additions, mixing only until combined — overmixing makes it tough.
Pour the batter gently over the fruit and smooth to the edges without disturbing the rings.
Bake 40-45 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out clean and the edges pull from the pan.
Rest exactly 10 minutes — sooner and it collapses, later and the caramel welds to the skillet — then invert onto a serving plate in one committed motion.
Serve warm. The caramel should glaze the fruit, not pool under it.

Inspired by Blaque Shelton’s winning pineapple upside-down cake. This is a plausible recreation, not the chef’s original recipe.