Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes with Pineapple Cream Cheese Fosting

Please don't judge me for this next post because even Sandra Lee takes short-cuts sometimes. 

My regular normal nine-to-five crazy job is being a first grade teacher.  We were lucky enough to receive grant money for a fruit and vegetable program.  A couple of time a week we receive fruits or veggies for snack.  When children are absent we have extra and I don't like to see food go to waste so I usually incorporate it into some sort of dessert.  My colleagues (friends) also enjoy that I do this so even if I don't have extra they will send me theirs.  One day they told me that they had some extra pineapples but this time the had a request-pineapple upside down cupcakes!  I had never made these nor had I ever made a pineapple upside down cake period.  I looked online for recipes but too many called for a lot of ingredients and after a long day of teaching I did not want to stop by the store for a list of things.  I figured I could wing it.

Again, please don't judge me.



I figured "Why recreate the wheel?"  I got a boxed cake mix (I have used yellow and french vanilla).  I followed the recipe on the box except  added an extra egg and used milk instead of water. 

In the bottom of the muffin tin I put a small amount on brown sugar, a little slice of pineapple and a cherry.  Because these need to be flipped upside down, I did not use cupcake liners.  I just sprayed them very well with cooking spray.

Once these come out of the oven, I would recommend circling each cupcake with a paring knife to ensure it comes out smoothly. 

Once they are out of the muffin tins.

I figured these would not be a cupcake without some frosting but I didn't want them to be too sweet since the brown sugar was notate top of the cupcake.  I just made a regular cream cheese frosting but I added some crushed pineapple to the frosting.  If you choose this route, make sure AS MUCH JUICE AS POSSIBLE IS DRAINED!  You don't want a watery frosting.

I didn't a picture of the finish product because I forgot {oops}.  My goal is to become a better food photographer.