Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

It was a dark and stormy night…okay, no, it wasn’t. It was a sunny, humid Florida day in June. I have my grandmother’s 96th birthday coming up and I am in charge of making the cake. What does a granddaughter do? Especially when she doesn’t like lemon or blueberry flavored treats? I mean, those are the two “go-to” flavors for any dessert. To top that off, strawberry, banana, and raspberry aren’t her favorites either. She likes apricot, pineapple, cherry, and orange flavored desserts. Those aren’t bad options, but as most people do, they make desserts they like as well. So that meant that apricot and orange was out. That left me with pineapple and cherry. What can I do with those two flavors? Hmmmmm…BING!! I’ll go search recipes for inspiration. And then, it happened. I came across Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe from onelittleproject.com.

Now that I’ve found the recipe, do I want to make all mini upside down cakes, two 9″ cakes, or one 9″ cake and 6 mini cakes. The answer took me some time to get through. But with the help of my husband talking everything out with me, I decided to make one 9″ cake for the birthday cake and then 6 mini cakes for my family to take home with them. Perfect!! To go dessert already prepared.

Spray, spray, spray! As long as your muffin tins are properly greased, you will have no problem with this recipe. It is easy to make and once the cakes are done, it’s done. Nothing else to do but let it cool and serve. I used one 20 ounce can of Dole pineapple rings instead of two and I had plenty with one ring left over. I also substituted the Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow Cake Mix for regular yellow cake mix. Choose whichever kind you want, it will turn out delicious either way.

The recipe calls for melted butter, brown sugar, maraschino cherries, pineapple rings, and yellow cake mix. The melted butter and brown sugar is the caramel topping that is the first to do down in the cake or muffin pans. Then, you put a pineapple ring on top of the caramel sauce with a cherry or half of a cherry in the middle of the ring. Next, you top with your batter and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. It’s such a great recipe for a classic dessert that stole my grandma’s heart.

The recipe calls for jumbo muffin pans, so if you don’t have those, you may need to decide whether you want to use regular muffin tins and make more, or make the 9″ cakes. Completely up to you.

Thank you for the company and enjoy your baking adventure!!

Serves: 18

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cans pineapple slices (20 ounce cans) (I used one can for one 9″ cake and 6 mini cakes)

1/3 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup brown sugar

maraschino cherries (cut in half)

1 box yellow cake mix

You NEED to use a jumbo muffin pan for this recipe unless you do an alternative.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray the muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. Open the cans of pineapple and save the juice.
2. Mix together the melted butter and brown sugar until combined. Add a spoonful of the mixture to the bottom of each muffin cup, distributing it evenly.
3. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions except instead of water, use the juice from the canned pineapple.
4. Add a well drained pineapple slice to the bottom of each muffin cup. Place half a maraschino cherry in the middle of each pineapple slice with the cut side facing up.
5. Add about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of cake batter into each muffin cup.
6. Bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tops have turned golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes. Loosen the edges if needed, then place a cookie sheet on top of the muffin pan and carefully flip them over so the mini cakes come out onto the cookie sheet.
8. Enjoy!