Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

I always thought of Pineapple Upside down cake to be in the same category as Jello molds. Something your mother would have made for “special occasions” and for some reason that thought remains in my mind in black and white. It feels like it’s from a completely different generation then my own. But I’ve been seeing the recipe in the mini form, a TON on Pinterest, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and join in. Besides, what else was I going to do with canned pineapple?

So I think that if you like Pineapple Upside Down Cake this is a great recipe, I just don’t think I’m a huge fan of it. And when I say I’m not a huge fan, that means I ate 2 of the little cakes the same day I made them. If I really like something, I eat the whole thing and pretend it never happened. ;)

So put on an old movie, throw on flapper dress from the back of your closet and take a trip to the 20s with me as you bake these sweet little cakes.

• 4 eggs, separated
• ½ cup of butter
• 1 cup of brown sugar, packed
• 2 cans of pineapple chunks, drained and sliced in half
• 21 maraschino cherries
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• ¼ tsp of salt
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tbsp of butter, melted
• 1 tsp of almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, grease 21 muffin tins cavities.

2. Arrange 5 slices of the pineapple chunks at the bottom of each cavity so it forms a circle, place a cherry in the middle of each. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, melt ½ cup of butter over low heat, mix in the brown sugar then spoon over the cherry and pineapple pieces so it’s divided evenly.

4. In mixing bowl or kitchen aid, beat the eggs whites until soft peaks form. Add the white sugar and continue to beta until stiff peaks form.

5. Fold in the egg yolks, flour, baking powder, and salt, until just combined. Then mix the butter and almond extract.

6. Spoon batter evenly into each cavity, bake for approx. 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of each cake with a table knife. Turn over onto wire rack and let rest for a minute or two.