Mini Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Who knew Saturday, April 20th was Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day?!
Who knew there even was such a day?

Actually, not me until after I made these cute little cakes on Friday.  This is another magazine tear-out recipe from my husband as was the Strawberry Roll.  These turned out a little better looking than that did...don't get me wrong, the Strawberry Roll tasted great but didn't look so hot!  Check these out for a sweet spring treat!

Mini Pineapple Upside-Down Cakes

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 eggs

2/3 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons pineapple juice
2/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 can pineapple rings or pineapple tidbits

6 or 12 maraschino cherries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.  No need for cupcake liners.  In a mixing bowl, add eggs, white sugar, and pineapple juice.  Beat for two minutes.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients and mix for two minutes.  Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and add the brown sugar.  Stir on low heat for one minute.  Spoon a layer of the warm brown sugar mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin, then place a pineapple ring or tidbits on top.  If using regular muffin tins, you will need to cut down the rings to fit or use pineapple tidbits, which I did here.  Add a cherry in the middle of each pineapple.  Pour cake mixture over the top to fill each 3/4 of the way full.

Makes 6 jumbo cakes (jumbo muffin tin) or 12 mini cakes (regular muffin tin).  Bake jumbo cakes for 25 minutes or mini cakes for 20 minutes.  Immediately run a knife gently around the edges to loosen.  Place a serving plate or cutting board on top of the cakes and flip over.  Gently lift off the tin.  It's important to do this right away; otherwise, the cakes will cool and the brown sugar topping will harden and be very difficult to get out of the pan.  If you're lucky, they will fall out perfectly and the brown sugar topping will melt down over the cake!  Good luck!

Happy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day! :)

Recipe from a Naples, FL real estate brochure

Ham & Pineapple BBQ Flatbread

My husband has been traveling quite a bit lately so I'm cooking for one again.  When I used to have a night alone (before baby), I'd search out a new recipe online and look forward to strolling leisurely through the grocery store finding the ingredients with the anticipation of  what was to come.  At home, I'd pour myself a glass of wine and spend the evening getting lost in the dish I was making.  Now, I look forward to baby in bed at 8:00pm, a quick dinner, a glass of red wine, and the couch with a good book or with my laptop and good show!

For a quick dinner, I love this "go-to" Make Your Own Pizza.  However, one night I decided to spice it up a little with some ingredients I already had on hand.  Check out this delicious new twist on an old staple!

Ham & Pineapple BBQ Flatbread

Ingredients:

1 Flatout Flatbread (I used Multi-Grain with Flax.)

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's Original.)
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons pineapple, crushed
2 slices deli ham, rolled separately and sliced (I like Boar's Head.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Bake just the Flatout for 10 minutes or until crisp.  Take it out and flip it over.  Mix the BBQ sauce and honey together.  Top the flatbread with the honey BBQ sauce.  Next, add the shredded mozzarella cheese, ham, and pineapple.  Put it back in the oven and bake until cheese is melted, about 10 more minutes.  Serves 1.

The sweet tangy honey BBQ sauce is the perfect match for the savory ham and juicy pineapple.

Enjoy!