Pineappe Upside Down Muffins

 

Oh my goodness!

Look at those lovely muffins!

Aren't they cute!

Actually they're quite gorgeous!

I saw some cakes like these on Pinterest

and just had to try them myself.

I needed a dessert to take to a family dinner,

and 12 servings would be perfect!

I used my own "recipe" (actually one of those "eyeball-it" type recipes) 

and tried them out on some of my favorite taste testers.

Follow me as I show you how it's done...

 

I gathered the ingredients...first thing you should know is I "doctor" up box cake to make it taste homemade. I read a comment on another blog. The person commenting said she used to work for a European baker. The baker told her box cake mixes make a good base, but he taught her to always add one egg to the amount called for on the box, to substitute melted butter for the amount of oil called for, and substitute milk for the water. I have used this formula and it works wonderfully for what I would call "substantial" cakes. I would not use that if I wanted a light and fluffy cake, but it works wonderfully for cupcakes and upside down cakes and any other rich cake.

I mixed the cake with the change in ingredients (extra egg, substitute butter for oil, and substitute milk for water). The batter is thicker than normal cake-mix batter.

 I prepared jumbo** muffin pans by putting in a tablespoon of melted butter and a little less than a tablespoon of brown sugar in each muffin spot, and then I stirred the two ingredients together.

 I put one pineapple ring on top of the butter/brown sugar mixture in each muffin spot and put a Maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring. I found that one can of pineapple rings has 8 or 9 rings, so I had to open a second can.

 I used an ice cream scoop to add the cake batter to each muffin space. I filled each cup about 3/4 of the way full. After filling the muffin pans I still had leftover cake batter and since I had opened a second can of pineapple I also had that left over. I decided to make a small cake with the leftover ingredients.

 I just covered the bottom of a small glass dish with melted butter and brown sugar, then arranged the pineapple and cherries on top.

  When I had an arrangement I liked I covered the fruit with the remaining cake batter. Then I put the cake and the muffins in the oven at 350 degrees.

I removed the muffins first. I checked to make sure the cake was done by pressing down on the center and watching for it to bounce back. I let them cool for 10 minutes, then I loosened them by running a knife under the edges and put them on a tray by setting the tray on top and flipping them over. There is some "sauce", but it is absorbed as the cakes cool.

 Each little individual cake was like a beautiful little flower on a plate!

I checked the small cake the same way ~ by watching for the "bounce-back" when I pressed the center. I let it cool for 10 minutes and then flipped it out onto a foil covered piece of cardboard because I planned to send it home with my daughter-in-law (but she forgot to take it home so GoodMan and I had leftover cake to last for a couple of days!)

The official "recipe" for individual pineapple upside down muffins:

Yellow cake mix
eggs (one more than the cake mix box calls for)
butter (amount to replace oil called for on the cake mix box as well as an additional 2 sticks for the "sauce"
milk (amount to replace the water called for on the cake mix box)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, divided
2 cans pineapple rings in juice
Maraschino cherries


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Mix cake using an extra egg, melted butter to replace the oil called for on the box recipe, and milk to replace the water called for on the box recipe.
Melt 2 sticks of butter.
Put 1 tablespoon butter and one tablespoon of brown sugar in each jumbo* muffin space (reserve remaining butter and sugar).
Place one pineapple ring and one Maraschino cherry in each muffin space.
Cover the fruit with cake batter. Fill each muffin space 3/4 full.
Use the remaining butter, sugar, fruit, and cake batter to make an additional small cake (6x8).
Bake at 350 degrees until cake bounces bake when pressed in the center ~ approximately 30 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes before turning cakes over onto a tray.

**You can use a regular size muffin pan, but you will need to use pineapple chunks instead of rings because the rings don't fit in the smaller pans.

What was the taste tester's bottom line? 

My grandchildren LOVED these! They like having their own individual cakes, and the jumbo size was a hit too! GoodMan and I enjoyed the unexpected leftovers!

The bottom line: Keep all ingredients on hand for a special treat for family gatherings.