Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake

I came across my bundt cake pan the other day. I thought to myself,  I really need to use it more often. So I went through my cupboard and found all the ingredients for a semi homemade pineapple upside down cake.  Then I found out my brother and his family were coming to town. I now had willing taste testers to help eat up the cake. My son and I would never have finished it by ourselves. It was fate.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 can (20 ounces)  pineapple slices, reserve the juice
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries (you will need about 15-20 depending on your bundt pan size)
• 1 box yellow cake mix (thus the semi homemade description)
• 1 package (3.4 ounce) vanilla pudding mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Spray a bundt pan generously with nonstick spray.
2. Evenly pour the melted butter into the bottom of the bundt pan and top with the brown sugar. 
3. Cut the pineapple rings in half and, alternating with the cherries, place into the butter-brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan. 
4. In a large bowl, combine the cake and pudding mixes together. Add the reserved pineapple juice and milk. Add the eggs and vegetable oil, and mix until fully blended. 
5. Pour the batter evenly over the pineapple and cherries. 
6. Follow the cake mix instructions for how long to bake in a bundt pan. Approximately 35-40 minutes. Bake until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  
7. Cool the cake for about 30 minutes before running a knife around the edges and inner ring of the pan. Invert onto a serving plate and slice between pineapple rings to serve. 

Black Forest Bundt Cake

I finally bought myself a bundt cake pan. Being a bundt pan novice, I didn’t realize I needed to spray the pan with baking spray oil so heavily.  My lesson was learned after 10% of the top of my first bundt cake stayed in the pan. Good thing I had enough ingredients to try again.  Otherwise, the bundt cake pan would have been put in the far back of a cupboard never to be seen again.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee (room temperature)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

FILLING INGREDIENT:

• 1/2 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling (use remainder to serve on the side)

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• sprinkles of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Prepare your bundt pan by coating it heavily with baking spray or butter and flour.
3. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, almond extract,  vanilla extract and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute.
4. Sift into the bowl the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt.
5. Mix together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Batter will be thin.
6. Top the batter with the cherry pie filling.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Whip the heavy cream in a cold, chilled bowl until it starts to thicken.
10. Then beat in confectioners sugar, almond and vanilla extract until the mixture begins to hold its shape.
11. Top the bundt cake with the whipped topping and add sprinkles. If you have maraschino cherries add those too. I didn’t have enough to decorate my cake though.
12. Serve the extra whipped topping and cherry pie filling on the side. Your guests will be pleased! 

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cupcakes 2.0

While I was coming up with this recipe. I was getting a déjà vu feeling. Then I realized, I have made a similar cupcake recipe to this. Gosh, I must be getting forgetful. My Valentine’s Day cupcakes used similar cherry and chocolate flavors. Check out that recipe here: Cherry Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. So I am calling these my Cherry Chocolate Chip Cupcakes 2.0 version. You can use a boxed white cake mix if you like. But this recipe is very simple, and you can have the bragging rights that you made these from scratch. This recipe makes 18-24 cupcakes.

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 jar (10 ounce) maraschino cherries, drained and chopped, 1 tablespoon liquid reserved; 18-24 cherries reserved for garnish
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus one tablespoon reserved for chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 2 egg whites, beaten to stiff peaks

TOPPING AND GARNISH INGREDIENTS:

• 2 containers Betty Crocker Whipped vanilla frosting
• 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry liquid you reserved
• 1 teaspoon cherry or almond extract
• maraschino cherries to garnish
• sugar sprinkles (optional but they make it more fun, don’t they?)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 regular size baking cups in baking tins. Set aside.
2. Finely chop cherries. Place chopped cherries in paper towel-lined bowl to drain while preparing batter.
3. In a small bowl or container, add 1 tablespoon flour to 1 cup miniature chocolate chips and mix/shake well. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
6. Add 2 teaspoons almond extract to 1/4 cup whole milk.
7. Beginning and ending with flour mixture, alternately add flour mixture and milk mixture to butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Fold in chopped cherries and miniature chocolate chips. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
8. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched in center. Remove from muffin cups to cooling rack. Cool completely, about an hour.
9. To make Topping, spoon frosting into bowl with 1 tablespoon cherry liquid. Add 1 teaspoon cherry or almond extract; beat 2 minutes with electric mixer on medium speed. If desired, transfer topping to decorating bag fitted with large star tip; pipe topping onto cupcakes in large swirls. Or, spread topping on cupcakes with off-set spatula. Garnish each cupcake with sugar sprinkles and a maraschino cherry.