Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I’ve craved for a pineapple upside down cake for a while now so I decided to make some for a Chinese New Year dinner at my uncle’s house. These delicious desserts look great and are super easy to make!

Start with the topping. Mix 1/4 cup of melted butter with 2/3 cups of packed brown sugar.

In a large muffin tin, evenly scoop the topping into the tin. Drain the pineapple rings and reserve the juice. It will be used in the batter. My muffin tin was smaller than the pineapple ring so to cut a small wedge out of the ring to fit into the tin. In the centre of the pineapple, place a maraschino cherry in the centre.

After filling each spot with a pineapple and cherry, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and make the batter. I made two batches to make enough for the dinner that I was going to.

In a bowl crack and gently beat 4 room temperature eggs.

Add 8Tbsp of pineapple juice and 1 cup sugar. I reduced the amount of sugar because the pineapple juice was sweet. Beat until the sugar is slightly dissolved.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl; 1 1/3 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt. Fill the muffin tin with the cake batter.

Bake the muffin tin on a cookie sheet to catch any sugary syrup as it bakes. Let the batter bake for 20-25 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick comes out clean.

At first the pineapple upside cakes don’t look like the pictures but thats where the magic comes in. Gently loosen each cake by running a knife along the edge of the cakes. Then carefully place a tray or large platter on the muffin tin. Flip the plate and muffin tin at the same time.