Fathers Day Whammie!

Two words: Fathers Day. Hear them as they go whooshing past. On this holiday, NO
freak-outs, NO television specials, and ABSOLUTELY NO bouquets of roses. Just a card and some steak. And in this case, cupcakes. And in a cupcakes case: Upside Down Pineapple Cupcakes AND Top-to-Bottom Crumb-cakes (as I like to call them). Probably the most INTERESTING cupcake. I think the last time I had canned pineapple was in FOREVER! This cupcake definitely showed my baking skill, I think.

You start with making an easy Yellow-Mix batter that I have for about the trillionth time now. So I've already starting to not measure accurately with a measuring cup. Which makes me feel like I've climbed Mount Everest. Actually that wouldn't make me feel great. That would make me feel tired and hungry and like an idiot, because now I have to go down. And since going down is the scarier part, now I just want to go home and hide. So now this might not have been a big accomplishment anyway. I split the batter in half. Saving it for the Top-to-Bottom crumb cakes (cupcakes, though I renamed them, cause I like how it just rolled off the tongue) that I would make for Fathers Day breakfast.

I made the crumbs for the crumb-cakes. I tried some, and it was salty and dry and NASTY! And they didn't even look like crumbs! It looked more like a pie crust dust.



Then I assembled the cupcakes. Crumbs, cupcake batter, crumbs. Yum yum.



Then of course they baked and I waited. And they baked. And I waited some more. Until...



Tada! They smelled SO good. The smell of cinnamon floated through the kitchen and I just wanted to eat one, bad! I had to put my will power into full gear. Finally they cooled and I just couldn't wait, so I dusted the cupcakes with powdered sugar as fast as I could, I didn't care what they looked like. But little did I know that the top wasn't fastened on tight enough to the powdered sugar duster, AND IT DUMPED ALL OVER THE CUPCAKE. It looked like a snowball! So now I had to clean up the mess BEFORE I could eat it! Eventually, it came time to eat one. It was like a little mini coffee cake. Yum.



This is how pretty they were! There was a slightly salty/sweet thing going on in this cupcake! The perfect combo! Definitely a favorite! The perfect coffee cupcakes. Tasty crumbs on the bottom and the top (hence the name) and a bit of moist yellow cupcake in the middle.

Now for the finale! (Drum roll please) PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CUPCAKES!! Hooray! I was watching Bobby Flay Throw-down at about 1 a.m (I'm such a Food Network junkie) and get this, the challenge was pineapple upside down cake! Both cakes made me want some, especially now that I finally know what it tastes like! You start my making a caramel-like glaze to go on the bottom of the pan. Then you put the pineapple rings on top of the glaze.



I had minimized the cupcake recipe for only 6 extra-large cupcakes. Don't ask why, I just did. Then I added the yellow cupcake batter and popped them in the oven. Unfortunately, I was baking this on the hottest day EVER! And the oven was not helping with this problem.



Did I forget to mention that you don't use cupcake liners? Instead, you use wax paper circles.





The cupcake was perfectly dense and moist. The caramelized pineapple was sweet, sticky, and tender in one bite. And the combination of the two was heaven! Turned out to be a pretty good cupcake day! Yum yum! Bake on!