Mini pineapple upside-down cakes

A few weeks ago, I sent my boyfriend off to Hong Kong, where he had a work assignment. Fortunately a good friend of mine agreed to come over, so that I won’t be all alone the first day. I figured I whip up a quick cake to take my mind off. The problem is, my friend is severely allergic to most fruit. I thought long and hard about which cake to make (for some reason I really wanted to have some fruit in it … silly me) and came up with individually prepared pineapple upside down cakes, minus the cherry, which she cannot have. So here is my recipe for those mini cakes, that I adapted to my taste (not as sweet as the original recipe). Enjoy!

Mini pineapple upside-down cakes
Yields 6
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Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. Sugar Glaze
  2. 2 Tbsp. butter
  3. 3 Tbsp. pineapple juice (use the one the pineapples are canned in)
  4. 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  5. Cake
  6. 6 (canned) pineapple slices and 6 maraschino cherries (optional)
  7. 1 1/4 cups flour
  8. 1 tsp. baking powder
  9. 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  10. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  11. 2 eggs
  12. 1 cups sugar
  13. 1/2 cup oil (preferably canola)
  14. 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  15. 1/2 cup sour cream (aka “Saure Sahne” in German)
Notes
  1. Large mixing bowl
  2. (Hand)mixer
  3. Measuring cups or kitchen scale
  4. Jumbo muffin tin
  5. Oven pre-heated to 350°F (180°C)
Adapted from recipe based on the fabulous pineapple upside down-cake recipe by Glorious Treats
quartertopie http://quartertopie.com/
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1: Dig out one jumbo muffin tin from your baking closet (mine is such a mess …) and prepare the pineapples by cutting out a notch so that they will fit nicely in the bottom of your muffin tin (this might need some experimenting).

Step 2: Prepare the sugar glaze by combining butter, sugar and pineapple juice in a small pan. Heat until butter and sugar are melted. Set aside to cool.

Step 3: Prepare the cake batter by mixing flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until the mixture thickens and is a light color (this takes 2-3 minutes!). Add oil, vanilla and sour cream while mixing on low speed until combined.

Step 4: Slowly add the flour mixture until it all just comes together (do not overmix!).

Step 5: Assemble the cakes by pouring ½ tablespoon of the sugar glaze into the bottom of each muffin mold, top with one slice of pineapple each and one cherry. Scoop the cake batter on top of each pineapple slice, filling each mold 2/3 full.

Step 6: Bake cakes in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes, take out and allow to cool. Run a knife carefully along the edges of each cake to losen them from the pan. Cut of any “domes” that may have formed while baking so that the cakes will later on sit nicely on a plate. Place a large plate or cooling rack upside down on the muffin tin and flip the entire thing over in one quick movement.
Cakes can be served warm, or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.
Enjoy!

Mini pineapple upsie-down cake 2

Valentines Cookies

I know it is not even remotely February anymore (it’s June ….) but I still wanted to share those pretty cookies I made for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, Valentine’s Day is not very big in Germany – at least not as big as in the US – but this didn’t keep me from preparing some delicious Valentine’s Day cutout-cookies for my beloved boyfriend. And there might have been some advantages for me in that, too …. (more…)

Carrot Fruit Cake

There really was no winter this year in Germany. It might have snowed one day so far and to be honest with you, as soon as Christmas is over, I officially declare the winter season to be over. I am ready for spring to begin! Spring is my FAVORITE time of year!

Outside it is chilly enough to wear a jacket, but not so cold as to wear a scarf. Trees and flowers start to come out of hibernation, you can see more animals and the days are getting longer! But best of all, I have to admit, spring is the time of carrot cakes!!!

I know, there are many people out there that find the idea of putting a vegetable into cake or dessert utterly absurd, but I just loooove the combination of sweet carrots, nuts and cinnamon in a cake! And since frostings are not really a “thing” in Germany, my cakes usually do without buttercream or cream-cheese frostings (mostly due to the lack of proper ingredients and people accustomed to sweet frostings, not because I don’t like frostings. Red velvet cake and cream-cheese frosting? Heaven!). But believe me, the carrot-fruitcake I am going to show you is just as good without a layer of cream-cheese frosting (but this should not keep you from adding an inch-thick layer if you wish!). (more…)

Homemade Granola Bars

So, how to start?

Writing my first blog entry was no easy task.

Starting my own blog was a huge task. I needed some serious persuading by friends and family to share my recipes and baking advice with the world (assuming there is even one person reading this …). Would people like what I do? Would they like my writing? Will they make fun of my word choices (I am not a native speaker you know…)? Would I get criticized for what is my most beloved pastime?

Nevertheless, I decided it was worth a shot, so here I go! Please be kind …

It is 2014! Happy New Year everyone! I bet on many new year’s resolution lists we can find things such as Eat more healthy foods (which is a great resolution!)  or Eat less chocolate (which sounds impossible, but I acknowledge other people trying to). So I figured a good way to start off my blog would be with one of my more “healthy” recipes. So homemade granola bars it is (I am going to test your resolutions soon enough. I promise!).

I will share with you the basic granola bar recipe that I use a lot and give examples of mix-ins I like to use, but please feel free to swap them for whatever suits your taste buds. Pumpkin seeds and dried papaya? Go for it! (more…)