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Blaque Shelton

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

Maurice Shelton — Chef Blāque professionally — won Netflix's Sugar Rush before he walked into Bobby's kitchen, and runs Black Rose Pastries out of Chicago. He is a pastry specialist, which matters, because he chose to fight Bobby on dessert.

Dessert is the classic Bobby trap in reverse: Flay is a savory cook who treats baking like seasoning — by feel. Pineapple upside-down cake looks like feel. It is actually chemistry with a caramel deadline, and a Sugar Rush champion does not miss the deadline.

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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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Pour the batter gently over the fruit and smooth to the edges without disturbing the rings.
  6. Bake 40-45 minutes, until a skewer in the center comes out clean and the edges pull from the pan.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
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