Easter Cross Cake

One of my college friends asked if I could make her a cake.  She recently got engaged!  Her fiance took the classes to become Catholic before they got married. He was able to complete the classes for this Easter weekend!  She asked if I could make her a cross cake.  She also chose to order some Pineapple Upside Down cupcakes because that is her fiance's favorite!  She also wanted the cake to sort of "match" the cupcakes.  We went with a regular vanilla cake with a pineapple filling.  I wasn't able to taste the cake but she let me know that it got great reviews!  I hope to be making another cake for this family soon!

Easter Cross Cake!

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.