Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

YUM...brown sugar topping with pineapples and cake...brings back so many childhood memories.  My mom made the best pineapple upside down cake.  She would always use a cast iron skillet so the topping was nice and caramelized on top.  This is my mom's tried and true recipe.  I just used muffin tins instead of a cast iron skillet. 


I really like individual little desserts.  My girls can easily help themselves and they look pretty fancy.  I decided to try this recipe using jumbo muffin tins and regular muffin tins.  This recipe will make a batch of 6 jumbo size or 12 muffin size cakes.


Cake Ingredients:

2 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
4 Tbsp pineapple juice
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Topping:

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick or 4 Tbsp)
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1-can pineapple rings
6-maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray your muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a mixing bowl, add eggs, white sugar, and pineapple juice.  Beat for 2 minutes.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and turn mixer back on for 2 minutes. 

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir on low heat for one minute.

Spoon a layer of the warm brown sugar mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin, then place a pineapple ring on top.  Add a cherry in the middle of each pineapple.    Pour cake mixture over to fill muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.  If you are using regular muffin tins, you will need to cut down the rings to fit or just use pineapple tidbits.

Bake jumbo cakes for 25 minutes.  Bake regular cakes for 20 minutes.  If you choose to make a large cake, bake for 22-25 minutes in a 10 inch cast iron skillet.  The cake is done with a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.


This is the hard part...waiting for warm cakes to finish baking.  

Remove from the oven.  Let cool in pan for 3 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of each cake to help loosen in case it sticks a little.  Place a wire cooling rack on top, and quickly flip over on top of sheet tray to catch extra drippings. 

Place wire rack of cakes on sheet tray to cool. 

Now it's time to Enjoy!