BBQ

One of my favorite things about summer is the beautiful evening weather, which is just screaming for a BBQ. Which is exactly our plan tonight!

We bought some steaks and some corn to pop on the grill. I think I'll make some more of these delicious things, too:



They're mini pineapple upside down cakes. I made them for my coworker Louie for his birthday. He loves pineapple upside down cakes, so I tried it as cupcakes. They were delicious! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
White or pineapple cake mix
Eggs
Oil
Can or two of pineapple rings (with juice saved)
Butter
Brown sugar

Directions:
Mix cake mix as directed, but use the pineapple juice instead of your water. At the bottom of your cupcake pan, mix a tablespoon of melted butter with about a tablespoon of brown sugar. Then put a pineapple ring in. (I had to break my pineapple ring into pieces, since it was too big for my cake pan.)

Then pour in some batter. DON'T overfill: this was my mistake. If you overfill, it will puff up over the top of the pan too much and make it harder for you later. I ended up having to slice off the top of the cupcake so that they will flip appropriately without toppling over.

Once your cupcakes are cooled, run a knife around the sides of the cakes, to prepare for the flip. Then, quickly and easily, flip the cupcake pan over to release the cupcakes (I flipped them onto a baking sheet because they aren't in liners or anything, so you probably don't want them just on your counter). They should pop right out. Mine stood fine, because I had sliced off any of the rounded tops (or bottoms, by the end). If any brown sugar/butter topping is left in the pan, just scoop it out and put it on top of the cake.

That's it! You can add a cherry to the middle at the end, if you want, but I don't like those fake sugar cherries, so I didn't.

They're super good, and Louie gave them two thumbs up. As a pineapple upside down cake lover, I take that as a huge compliment! :o)