PIneapple "Upside-Down" Cupcakes

These are, unfortunately, not my own creation. I got this off a series called Cupcake Diaries. The book is called Cupcake Diaries: Katie and the Cupcake Cure. I made these with my grandma once and I absolutely loved them! Baking them were so fun! I hope you have fun making them!

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 9-18
• Yields: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

• Batter

• Batter

• 15 1⁄4 ounces  yellow cake mix
• 1  cup sour cream
• 1⁄2 cup  pineapple juice (use juice from canned pineapples, see topping)
• 1⁄3 cup  vegetable oil
• 4  large eggs (room temperature)
• 1  teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Topping

• 8  tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
• 3⁄4 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple (drained -- set aside 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice for batter)
• 1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries (optional)

Directions

1. Center baking rack in oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease cupcake tins well with butter or cooking spray.
2. Cupcakes: In a large mixing bowl combine all of the batter ingredients. With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the ingredients together until there are no lumps in the batter. Spoon the batter into the cupcake tins so that each tin is about halfway full.
3. Topping: Mix the melted butter and brown sugar together with a spoon. Sprinkle about a teaspoon of the mixture on top of the cupcake batter in the tins. Now add a layer of about a tablespoon of pineapple. If you'd like, put one cherry on top, pressing it into the pineapple layer so it's level.
4. Bake the cupcakes about 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 5 minutes. CArefully run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcakes and invert the cupcake pan onto the wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool for about 20 minutes; and then enjoy!