Candidate 1: Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

As I have mentioned in my previous entry, I am in search for this year's yuletide treat. I happen to come across Rachel Rappaport's site named "Coconut and Lime". It had an interesting name that was definitely catchy. It made me think of the Carribeans, the islands of Guam or Hawaii, and the ethnic countries of Thailand and Indonesia. It even made me think of home... the Philippines. Probably it was the affinity with the word coconut that made me think of these things... That is another story.

Her site had a wide array of recipes that she herself made. They looked easy to do and from the numerous "happy" comments, I had to try one of her recipes. It might end up in my yuletide giveaways this year. So I chose Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes. I decided to give this a try because of the simplicity and availability of the ingredients. Not to mention, I opened a can of pineapple tidbits used as a pizza topping and had lots left over. Instead of openning another one with whole slices, I decided to use this instead. I arranged them to look like a star/flower which I thought looked timely for the season.

The verdict: True be told, it didn't raise as high as I thought it would. They tasted really good. My mom, cousin M and co-workers thought so too. I had slight difficulty in removing some that got alittle stuck. Some of the tidbits were stuck on the bottom of the muffin pan when I was removing them, but that was just 3 out of the 12. The rest came out whole and perfect. The caramel sauce made it really moist and sticky.

Maybe for a more festive and attactive presentation, I would add a cherry on the center.

With the permission of the author, I am sharing with you the recipe.

Pineapple Uside Down Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
20 oz canned pineapple rings in 100% pineapple juice, drain and reserve juice for batter


Cake Batter:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup flour
1 egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Butter or spray (with cooking spray with flour) 10 wells in a cupcake pan. Cut a 1/2 inch chunk out of 10 pineapple slices and place the slices (not the little chunks) individually in 10 cupcake wells. They should lie flat in the pan and look like a "whole" ring again. In a small saucepan, melt and stir together butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes or until it thickens slightly. Stir thoroughly to combine. Pour about one teaspoon of this topping into the bottom of each pineapple ring covered cupcake well. In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add the baking powder, mix briefly then add the flour alternately with the pineapple juice. Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of batter over each pineapple slice and bake for 20 minutes. Cool 20 minutes in pan then invert over a baking rack. You may want to place parchment paper or a towel under the rack because they may drip. Serve on a plate, pineapple side up.