Pineapple Cupcakes

People have been complaining that I have been failing to provide cupcakes lately, so this weekend I set out to fix that. I started with the Carrot Cake Cupcakes that I make all of the time because OBVIOUSLY. They really are so very good.

But during that quest, I wound up with a bigger can of crushed pineapple than I needed, so I also had to make Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Dip. Which, that stuff is also SO very good. (Photos do not do this dip justice. It's sad, really. It tastes just like the top of a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.)

It's so good that I decided it needed to be turned into frosting (Because, really, is there much difference between dip and frosting? Nope!). That's how it came to be that I had to make Pineapple Cupcakes.

I'm going to be super popular tomorrow when I share these.

Pineapple Cupcakes (Original recipe is here) (The recipe lies, though. This makes 2 dozen cupcakes.)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple (divided -- half is for the cupcakes, half for the frosting)
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened

1. Let's work backwards and start with the frosting, shall we? Take that can of crushed pineapple and drain some of the juice out of it. By that, I mean do your best to drain it, but don't stress about it. Just squish off some fluid and then dump half of the pineapple into a nonstick skillet.

2. With the heat on medium-high, add the 2 tablespoons of butter and the 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Simmer everything for about 5 minutes, stirring to prevent any sticking. You're good when it starts to thicken. Toss the SUPER delicious pineapple stuff in a bowl and shove it in the freezer. You need to give it time to cool.

3. With that out of the way, heat your oven to 325 degrees. It's cake time! Put your 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a bowl and whisk them up.

4. In a separate bowl, mix your vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar. I'm sure a stand mixer would work fine, but I actually used a fork.

5. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Mix well then fold in the rest of the pineapple. Do that thing that makes the cake batter land in the cupake liners. They should be about 2/3 full.

6. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. Mine were done at 21 minutes. You know they're done when the tops turn a fantastic golden brown.

7. Let the cupcakes cool on a rack while you finish up the frosting. Remember that stuff you stuck in the freezer? Take it back out. You're going to use a mixer to combine it with your cream cheese. By the way, don't use the fake/lowfat cream cheese. It's too soft for this (guess who screwed up and did that and then had to eat a whole bunch of too soft pineapple stuff? It was so terrible. Or not.).

8. Introduce the cupcakes to the frosting and all will be right with the world.