Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Today I’m posting this delicious recipe for a pineapple upside down cupcake. When we were on vacation, my family, Tai and I went to a luau show at Disney and ate some of THE BEST food I’ve ever eaten. We never had a bad meal while at Disney but this was by far the absolute best. So when I got back to Brooklyn, I wanted to bring some of the “island” spirit back with me. So I made these delicious things.

OH BOY oh boy, spring has sprung! It’s finally spring and warm and sunny out….well except it did snow on the first official day of spring. But nothing stuck at least, it melted as soon as it landed. I’m just going to ignore the snow and pretend it never happened. Besides there are pretty daffodils and crocuses blooming on our street and I’d rather focus on that and leave the crummy winter weather behind 🙂

When I brought these into work, it was craziness. I put them on my boss’ desk in the morning and didn’t announce that they were there. After a few hours, somebody else noticed the cupcakes and that’s when the craziness began. They were GONE in an instant! So happy everyone enjoyed them and happy to get the out of the apartment because I would and could eat all of them. By myself. With no regrets.

If you like cupcakes, be sure to check out some of the other recipes on my blog like these:

Bananas Foster Brown Sugar Cupcakes

Cinnabon Cupcakes

Margarita Cupcakes

Raspberry Filled Cupcakes

5 from 2 votes

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Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes are a delicious take on a classic cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 18

Calories 355 kcal

Ingredients

• TOPPING
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 can sliced pineapple 6-8 slices
• 15-20 maraschino cherries
• CAKE
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice from the can
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• FROSTING
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 tbsp maraschino cherry juice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Melt butter in a medium frying pan on a low heat. Add sugar and stir to fully combine.
3. Slice pineapple into small chunks (reserve the juice) and put into frying pan. Toss to coat the fruit and let simmer until sauce thickens (since pineapples are very juicy this could take several minutes). Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
5. In a large mixing bowl combine almond extract, pineapple juice, sugar, vegetable oil and egg and mix until combined. In small batches add the dry mixture to the wet, stirring each time until just mixed.
6. Line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Spoon pineapple into the bottom of the cupcake forms and add a cherry in the center. Spoon cake mixture over the fruit until each form is filled about halfway.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool on a wire rack.
8. Prepare the frosting in a large mixing bowl. First cream together sugar and softened butter. Add cherry juice and cream and continue to mix until frosting is light and fluffy.
9. Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes, then enjoy!