Mini pineapple cupcakes

I warned you that I was messing around with pineapple in the dead of winter. I acknowledged that it was totally unseasonal, but that I couldn’t resist, and that I would be plastering some suspiciously yellow, fruity dessert over these virtual pages in the coming week or so.

So here you are.

Just...beautiful.

I made these tiny pineapple cupcakes after making a piña colada layer cake (for the purposes of some mysterious super-secret ebook, perhaps?) and finding myself with about one cup of crushed pineapple leftover. Unsure of what to do with the leftovers, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World came to the rescue with a recipe for upside-down pineapple cupcakes that utilized the perfect amount of the stuff. Of course, I modified the recipe a little. The regular-size cupcakes are now mini. There is now frosting. The gooey, sweet pineapple filling is now on top of the frosting. You know, standard stuff.

I thought it would look cute.

The results are tiny, very flavorful, very pineapple-y cupcakes that one can eat in approximately two bites. One bite, if you’re ambitious. In the dead of the winter, they bring a very welcome summery flavor to the table.

Plus they're super adorable. That always helps.

Anyway. Here’s the recipe.

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Mini pineapple cupcakes

Adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

136 grams • all-purpose flour • 1 cup

4 grams • baking powder • 1 teaspoon

2 grams • salt • ¼ teaspoon

1 gram • cinnamon • ½ teaspoon

1 gram • ground ginger • ½ teaspoon

0.5 grams • allspice • ¼ teaspoon

245 grams • crushed pineapple • 1 cup

56 grams • olive oil • ¼ cup

125 grams • granulated sugar • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons

Filling

245 grams • crushed pineapple • 1 cup

50 grams • granulated sugar • ¼ cup

7 grams • cornstarch • 1 tablespoon

2 grams • vanilla extract • ½ teaspoon

Frosting

112 grams • vegan butter, room temperature • ½ cup

180 grams • powdered sugar • 1 ½ cups

15 grams • nondairy milk • 1 tablespoon

2 grams • vanilla extract • ½ teaspoon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 24 mini cupcake tins.

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice into a large bowl.

Combine pineapple, olive oil, and sugar in a blender and blend until nearly smooth. It’s okay to leave a few chunks of pineapple left for texture.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir just until combined. Do not over-mix.

Spoon batter into tins. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool in tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make filling, simply combine pineapple, sugar, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Stirring consistently, boil for 30 seconds to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and let cool completely.

To make frosting, start by placing vegan butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beating until smooth. With mixer on low speed, spoon in powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add milk and vanilla and beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 2 more minutes.

Finish cupcakes by piping frosting in a ring on cupcakes, leaving a hole of in the center to fill with pineapple. Spoon a bit of pineapple filling on each cupcake. Munch.

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