Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cupcakes

We had a beautiful weekend here in Portland, sunny and in the 70′s, the perfect antidote to a difficult week of re-entry from vacation.  I planted tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and hot!) and parsley and a passionflower vine in the garden, drank a beer on a neighbor’s back deck and coo-ed at their new little twin babies, and went to a barbecue at a friends house.  Blissful.  And then woke up this morning to 48 degrees, gray skies, and drizzle.  Ahh, well.  Reality bites.

It’s been a week since we got back from Hawaii, and both my tan and the glowing, refreshed attitude seem to be fading fast.  But I still have a taste for all things tropical, even when the weather on the homefront isn’t cooperating.  I ate (and drank) a ton of pineapple in Hawaii, and, oddly, the whole trip I was craving carrot cake, although I never did have any (too much indulging on other fronts).  So, right out of the gates – um, those would be the “baking” gates – I went for a mash up of the two flavors.  I’ve never been a big fan of pineapple upside down cake, just not enough depth of flavor for me.  So here we have the carrot cake I’ve been craving, with a little tropical twist (rum!) in the batter, thrown upside down with pineapple on top.  Why not?

I would have loved for these to each have a full pineapple ring on top, but unfortunately normal cupcake tins are too small for that, and I didn’t have any pans the right size.  If you do it with a full ring on each, please send a pic!

Also, the cake is tasty on its own, I baked up 12 cupcakes with pineapple and baked the rest as a loaf without pineapple.  You can leave out the rum if you don’t care for it, of course.  And the nuts, if you’re crazy like that.  Oh, and the hubster and I both liked the cake on it’s own, but if you are looking for a cream cheese frosting to add, try this one.

As the farmer said – that will do, pig, that will do.

One year ago on C&T:  Granola Goodness

Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cupcakes

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 8 Tbsp brown sugar
• 12 pineapple rings (fresh or canned)

Preheat oven to 350.  Place approximately 1/2 tsp butter in each of 24 cupcake tins.  Place the tins in the oven until the butter is melted (don’t let it burn!).  Remove from oven and add approximately 1 tsp brown sugar to each tin, stirring to mix with butter.  Cut each pineapple ring into four pieces; place two pieces in each cupcake tin.  Set aside.

• 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp dark rum (optional)
• 2 Tbsp pineapple juice (optional)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups shredded carrots (about 5 medium)
• 1 cup toasted, chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Mix oil, eggs, sugar, rum and pineapple juice (if using) until incorporated; then beat one minute on medium speed.  Add remaining ingredients except carrots and nuts; mix well.  Mix in carrots and nuts.  Ladle batter on top of pineapple in cupcake tins, filling each almost full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes.  Place a baking sheet on top of the cupcake tins and flip over to release cupcakes from pan.  Makes 24 cupcakes.  Or 12 cupcakes and one medium sized loaf–bake the loaf for approximately 40-45 minutes.

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Tags: carrot cake, cupcakes, pineapple, rum, tropical