Realizing you're missing the brown sugar while baking a pineapple upside down cake doesn't need to cause panic or an extra trip to the store. Check your pantry for common substitute ingredients to use in place of the brown sugar. Using a substitute ingredient may cause very minor changes in the taste, texture or color of your cake, but also allows you to continue baking your pineapple upside down cake. The completed cake still looks and tastes as delicious as one made with brown sugar.
Determine whether raw sugar, white granulated sugar or unsulfured light molasses are in your pantry to use as the substitute ingredient for the brown sugar. Molasses adds color and texture to the white sugar, which makes it similar to brown sugar. However, you can also omit the molasses, if necessary.
Measure out the same amount of substitute sweetener as you would of the packed brown sugar called for in your recipe. One cup of brown sugar equals: 1 cup raw sugar, 1 cup white granulated sugar or 1 cup white granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup unsulfured light molasses.
Follow the recipe as stated. using the substitute ingredient exactly as you would the packed brown sugar. Bake your cake with the same methods and heat indicated in the recipe.