Tag Archives: cherry

A fun twist on the traditional pineapple upside down cake– little mini cakes that are so pretty and fun to serve!

The Mini cheesecake pan is back!  I love this Chicago Metallic pan so much!!!  I know lots of you have gotten this pan for previous recipes (Cookie cheesecakes and Frozen S’mores) and love it– so here’s another!  These little cakes could be made in muffin tins- but in the mini cheesecake pan the bottom comes right out and you can keep your toppings in place and pretty– no sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Love it!  Here’s the recipe: so easy!

Ingredients:

• One boxed white cake mix (plus the oil, water and eggs to make according to box)
• 2/3c. packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3c. melted butter
• 1 (20oz.) can of pineapple chunks
• 24 maraschino cherries

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Place disks in the bottom of your Mini cheesecake pan and spray well with non-stick spray.
• Mix together brown sugar and melted butter.
• Spoon half of the sugar mixture evenly into the bottom of each cup in the pan (this recipe makes 24 mini cakes, so if you only have one pan you will need to do this in 2 batches).
• Place one cherry in the center of each cup.
• Break apart pineapple chunks and place around cherry in each cup.
• Make cake mix according to box (I used the whole egg method)
• Spoon half of batter evenly in each cup over cherry and pineapple.
• Place pan on a cookie sheet (important– these will leak a little!!!)
• Bake at 350 degrees for about 22-24 minutes.
• Allow pan to set and cool.
• Gently push up on bottom disk and remove each mini-cake from pan.
• Place bottom up on a cake rack and gently remove disk from top (replace any fillings that stick)
• Wash your sticky fingers and pan and repeat to make 24 cakes (unless you are lucky enough to have two pans- then you can do them all at once!)
• Allow these to cool completely.  Once they set they hold together beautifully- they are just a little fragile when they are still warm.

My thoughts: Well, I hate cooked fruit.  I have to admit that I didn’t try these.  I did, however, enlist many friends and coworkers in the tasting process and got a unanimous thumbs up on them.  They are (of course!) more work than just a regular cake.  They are sticky and the toppings slide off a bit and I wished I had 2 pans so that I could do them all at once.  I’m thinking of getting a second one…. the end result was so cute and so much more fun than just a plain cake though.  I really like that everyone gets pineapple and a cherry.  Enjoy!!!!!!!  -r