It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been busy re-designing my blog layout and house-hunting. Both tasks are proving to be a big challenge, but I will soldier on and not give up. I am too determined to have the blog layout of my dreams and a humble abode.
One thing is for sure I have a bad habit of diving into the deep end of things without a crash helmet. There are some important lessons that I have learnt:
Firstly, patience and understanding is a virtue. My poor sister has to put up with my nonsense explanations, multiple emails, random phone calls and constant questions. She really is a gem for doing this probono.
Secondly, don’t listen to anyone (except your mortgage broker) when it comes to advice about home loans and real estate. It is currently an unstable/unpredictable economic climate where legislation and laws change almost on a daily basis. Buying a home will be the biggest purchase Pizzaboy and I will make in our lifetime, therefore emotions are running high, desperation creeps in as every day passes and misinformation can be passed around easily just by the click of a button. A simple statement by anyone can send a surge of sudden panic through us. We have learned not to listen and only receive our information from certain sources.
I had a plan to not concentrate on blogging for a month, then I received a generous tray of 5 sweet pineapples from the King of Fruit. It turned out to be a welcome distraction from the constant number-crunching and HTML blah-blah-blah. I quickly decided to make these cute upside down pineapple cupcakes that were inspired by a picture I saw in Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
These cupcakes were delicious! Pizzaboy devoured three cupcakes in quick succession. I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed them. I am not a big fan of pineapples but these particular ones were sweet and were gobbled up quickly by my family.
Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes
Recipe makes 12
12 slices of fresh pineapple
200g brown sugar
70g unsalted butter
1/4 cup pineapple juice (blended from fresh pineapple)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups of plain flour
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cup of caster sugar
4 free-range eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
Making the pineapple topping
1) Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat
2) Add brown sugar and pineapple juice until it has dissolved, then remove from heat.
3) Mix cinnamon to the sugar mixture
Making the vanilla cake
1) Preheat oven 175°C/350°F
2) Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl
2) In another bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for 2 minutes until pale and light
3) Slowly add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes
4) Add the milk, eggs and vanilla extract and beat for another minute
5) Gently fold through the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Make sure to scrape down the sides so that nothing is missed.
Assembling the cupcakes
1) Butter the muffin pan or ramekin
2) Scoop 2-3 teaspoons of the sugar mixture into the bottom of the ramekin
3) Place a pineapple slice on top
4) Spoon batter into the ramekin until three-quarters full
5) Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean
6) Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes before serving
Many thanks for your vote!
**Fresh pineapples supplied by King of Fruit
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Comments
catty
September 8, 2010 at 7:46 pmThese are so cute 🙂 🙂 good luck with the house buying!
Conor @ HoldtheBeef
September 9, 2010 at 12:07 amThat caramel topping looks so good!
Good luck with everything. I know how stressful it is when househunting for a place to rent, so I can only imagine what it is like when you’re trying to buy a place. Fingers crossed you get there without too many grey hairs. Just eat another cupcake 🙂
Angie’s Recipes
September 9, 2010 at 12:23 amI like pineapple upside down cake…moist, rich and easy to make…just perfect for the coffee break.
TasteHongKong
September 9, 2010 at 12:34 amAwesome idea, and you have made the cake look adorable. Good luck!
Vivienne
September 9, 2010 at 12:58 amLooking forward to the new blog design 😉 And hope u find a suitable house soon!
This is my kinda cupcake…with fruits! I like the addition of pineapple juice! Yum!
tigerfish
September 9, 2010 at 1:01 amI like that last photo – can I have the honor to make that 2nd bite 😉
Maria @ ScandiFoodie
September 9, 2010 at 6:26 amAdorable and delicious looking cupcakes my sweetest! I wish you all the good luck in the world in house hunting!
Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
September 9, 2010 at 7:31 amNice to see you back and well done on those wonderful pineapple cakes! Good luck with the househunting…
Jess @ Bakericious
September 9, 2010 at 7:54 amI love the new look of your blog. The cake looks so delicious, I love the caramised, yummy!
Lisa @ bakebikeblog
September 9, 2010 at 8:04 amWhat a fantastic way to use pineapple! And what great photos!!!
Anh
September 9, 2010 at 8:45 amSuch a cute cake. And good luck with everything! 🙂
Rhonda ( The Dainty Baker)
September 9, 2010 at 9:05 amVery cute cuppies!! Indeed life does get in the way of our love of food sometimes but never fear… solider on!! 😀
OohLookBel
September 9, 2010 at 10:19 amLovely cakes! And you peeled and cored the king of fruit so beautifully, too 🙂
Danielle
September 9, 2010 at 11:49 amGood luck with the house hunting process!
On a side note – I would love to have that pineapple cake as a snack right now! When will they invent computers that send food through the screen 😉 !?
Reemski
September 9, 2010 at 2:36 pmWow, I know what you mean about the house hunting. SO PAINFUL, full of hopes dashed, and dreams shattered. I’m sending you as many good luck vibes as I can and I hope it all works out for you both.
In the meantime, cupcakes and baking are a great way to ease the tension.
Christie @ Fig & Cherry
September 9, 2010 at 3:48 pmLove the maraschino cherry on top – so 70s! Very cute 🙂
MaryMoh
September 9, 2010 at 3:56 pmI love pineapples and I would love this. I must try to make. It looks so delicious. Have fun with your blog makeover and house hunting 😀 Both are really challenging I agree.
Heidi – Apples Under My Bed
September 9, 2010 at 8:35 pmThese are super cute!!
I can’t even begin to imagine how frustrating real estate must be. I’m still renting!
Heidi xo
foodwink
September 9, 2010 at 9:42 pmGood luck with the house hunting, Amy! Oh, and the HTML blah blah blah too 🙂 Looking forward to the new layout!
mademoiselle délicieuse
September 9, 2010 at 9:59 pmMmmm, although tinned pineapple is pretty good, fresh pineapple always wins hands down! I only recently peeled my very first one, instead of buying it ready-sliced and it didn’t prove too traumatic =p
Best of luck with the house-hunting and be firm about what you want!
newlywed
September 9, 2010 at 10:12 pmUgh, we are house-hunting too. It is miserable! Not the fun kind of shopping at all.
On the bright side…I LOVE your recipe. I never would have thought to make these as cupcakes. But they are just so adorable!
angie
September 10, 2010 at 7:36 amAww good luck with the house hunting! Very cute little cakes you have there mmmm =)
grace
September 11, 2010 at 6:53 amthese are so cute! personalized little portions of upside-down cake is a great idea. 🙂
sweetlife
September 11, 2010 at 2:18 pmoh your bac at least for this post, I missed ya!! I love your cute ramekins and your little cakes are super yummy…I am super happy you and pizzaboy ae buying a new home, fingers crossed for you to find the home of youir dreams and ‘m sure your new layout will be fab, vote for ya, of course darling…off to vote, have a great weekend…oh and if I ever write a cookbook, surely I will send you one of the first copies for your collection, lol
sweetlife
Joanne
September 11, 2010 at 9:41 pmThanks for stopping by my blog! I’m glad you took a break from your blogging break to post these cupcakes because they look delicious! Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits and, I mean, everything tastes better in cupcake form! Good luck with the house buying…try not to let the stress get to you!
cityhippyfarmgirl
September 12, 2010 at 6:43 amGood to see you are back Amy. You’ve been missed!
Househunting…argh. There is truly nothing more stressful- sending you buckets and buckets of luck and I really hope it proves to be a quick process for you.
These pineapple cupcakes look wonderful, really tasty looking.
panda
September 12, 2010 at 9:52 amthese cakes are adorable and look yummy too! good luck with the house hunting and really glad to see you back to blogging 🙂
delicieux
September 12, 2010 at 10:26 amI love these! So cute and so retro at the same time.
Good luck with the househunting. I know what a stressful thing it is!
Juliana
September 14, 2010 at 11:21 amI love the idea of individual portion and I can have a whole slice of pineapple for myself…SO SO cute!
Forager @ The Gourmet Forager
September 14, 2010 at 9:37 pmGorgeous looking tropical cupcakes! Good luck with the househunting – I’m in the same boat so I know how you feel. When did houses become so unaffordable?
Von
September 14, 2010 at 9:56 pmGood Luck with your house hunting!! And your blog re-designing =) These cupcakes looks delicious!! I’ve never made upside down cakes before, but I’ve been meaning to- I love pineapple, and if you don’t really like pineapple that much and loved it, I’m sure I would really really like these!
Trisha
September 15, 2010 at 6:54 amThat last close up photo made me go “Ooooooooooh!”. This is fantastic!!! Oh and good luck with house hunting too! I remember when I was looking for a place to buy it took me months and months until I found the one I want. You’d want to buy the house/apartment/place that you really want! 🙂
Kathryn
September 18, 2010 at 6:25 amYum! I wish my baking creations looked that pretty!
Ladybird
September 19, 2010 at 10:30 amOooh I’ve never made an upside down cake – this looks scrummy!
SK
September 19, 2010 at 10:37 amMy auntie used to make a variant of your pineapple upside cake, using a chocolate base. It was delicious.
MissA
September 20, 2010 at 12:27 pmLooks delicious! Wonderfully retro and summery! Good luck with house hunting!
Emma @Cakemistress
September 23, 2010 at 1:16 pmLoving these mini pineapple upside down cakes. Glad you found a new home! Congrats on home ownership 🙂 🙂 🙂
Kitchen Butterfly
September 23, 2010 at 2:54 pmTake it easy – in the end, you’ll be rewarded by the blog theme you like (at least for the next year :-)) and a roof over your head. You’ll be able to paint all your walls red…or dark brown or leave them glorious shades of cream.
Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets
September 30, 2010 at 1:53 pmThese are so cute! I’ve been wanting to make something like it ever since seeing something similar in a magazine this spring.
Adrian @ Food Rehab
October 8, 2010 at 2:19 pmOh hello there little moist cake! I have a weakness for glazed cherries
Ellie (Almost Bourdain)
October 13, 2010 at 11:08 amI love upside down pineapple cake but never thought of making cupcakes! Love the idea. So pretty!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
November 1, 2010 at 9:06 amThey look gorgeous Amy! And wasn’t that bounty of King of Fruit pineapple amazing? It took us ages to get through ours but we savoured them and then actually went to the store and bought some more! 😛
Susan: My Food Obsession
November 3, 2010 at 10:24 pmYUM! How good to these look! I will be adding them to my ‘need to bake ASAP list’!
grace
November 21, 2010 at 10:00 amthese are adorable. what perfect portions, assuming i’m allowed three or four. 🙂
Patricia
February 10, 2011 at 4:29 pmI made this and it was delicious! thanks for the recipe. Everyone loved it!
bella
February 23, 2011 at 8:47 amLooks delish! What a great idea!
noa
April 29, 2011 at 6:54 pmi am in the middle of making this…and i noticed the ingredients call for milk, but there is no mention of it in the actual recipe…i combined the flour and butter mixture, and realized that it was a bit dry..so i added the milk then…hope that’s good….
Sandie@afoodieaffair.com
May 12, 2013 at 11:22 pmHoly delicious! I love, love pineapple upside down cake! These look delicious!
nadine
September 15, 2014 at 10:38 pmIt looks great, i will try it today.