Tender and sweet gluten free Mini Pineapple Upside-down Raspberry Cakes baked with pineapples, caramel sauce, and raspberries for a fresh twist.
My absolute favorite thing lately has been watching Emry ride her scooter. She takes her compact little body and flies down the sidewalk, pushing then gliding with her tiny little legs.
To say it’s adorable is an understatement.
There is just something about watching a tiny little body, and trust me…she’s tiny, do big kid stuff that is overwhelmingly cute. If it wasn’t for this fact, the “I do it!” stage would probably throw me over the edge.
And yes, we are full blown in the “I do it!” stage in our household. In fact, here are the top 5 “I do its!” we encounter on a daily basis:
- Going to the bathroom by herself. This can be tricky especially when she’s pooped and decides to get off the potty to come tell you that she’s done. Ugh.
- Getting dressed by herself. Side note: If you see my child anytime in the next, uh, five years…don’t judge. She picks out her own clothes.
- Getting in and out of the car by herself. It’s amazing to me how I am always in a hurry, but my children are never in a hurry. Makes this task quite fun.
- Brushing her teeth by herself. Let’s face it. Unless I want to deal with a mouthful of cavities, I don’t let her do this all by herself. Unfortunately that means we endure a tantrum every single morning and night.
- Washing her hair by herself. Again, if I left this up to her, she’d have a headful of suds. Luckily Ben is usually in charge of bath times, so he gets to fight this battle.
Of course there are additional random day to day moments where the “I do it!” phrase pops up, but these five scenarios I can always count on a fight.
Just this morning Emry had a full on meltdown over painting her nails. I needed to clean the kitchen and shower before running errands, and she wanted to paint her nails.
Funny how a kids always sees their wants as far surpassing your needs.
Anywho, she threw herself to the ground crying and screaming “I paint nails! I paint nails!” for the next 20 minutes until I scooped her from the ground to put her in the car. Later that afternoon I found her painting her own nails with her little kid nail polish she had found. She looked up at me with a smirk and quietly stated, “I do it.”
The next 18 years flashed before my eyes.
But in that very moment all I could think was how darn cute my little baby was painting her own nails. Pink, of course.
But isn’t that how life is? Anything mini is just…well…cute. Enough said.
Really, there’s no way around it. Mini = adorable.
Guess that means my entire family is pretty adorable then, huh?!
I’ll tell you one thing, though. These gluten free Mini Pineapple Upside-down Raspberry Cakes are just plain precious!
Who wouldn’t want their own personal little cake topped with whipped cream and a fresh raspberry???
These mini cakes are so sweet, so tender, so flavorful, and so good. Here’s why:
First, they pretty much melt in your mouth when you eat them warm out of the oven…exactly how any pineapple upside down cake should be eaten.
Second, the caramely goodness that melts on the top and soaks into the vanilla cake.
Third, the raspberry (as opposed to a maraschino cherry) that bakes into a raspberry like jam on top giving these cakes a little tang and a little tart.
Fourth, the orange juice in the vanilla cake that adds a bit of tropical flavor to the party in your mouth. Aloha people!
And lastly, the fresh whipped cream that just makes anything taste better. Anything.
Yeah, your mouth is watering right about now, huh? Don’t be ashamed, mine is too. That’s just your taste buds telling you that you need these mini desserts in your life…like, right now.
And don’t be fooled thinking that these take a lot of time to make. The caramel only takes 5 minutes to make. Then you just drop a spoonful into the bottom of each muffin tin, scatter some pineapple tidbits around, and stick a raspberry in the middle. Top it with your cake batter and you’re done-zo! Simple as that!
Best thing is you don’t have to wait for these cakes to cool before you can frost them and serve them. Just wait five minutes for the sauce to settle at the bottom, flip out the cakes, and they’re ready to eat. Let your guests top them with whipped cream and a raspberry right before eating so the cream doesn’t melt down the sides.
And there you have it, a mini dessert with a whole lotta flare!
- For Cake:
- 1 stick butter, room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¾ cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup gluten free oat flour
- ½ cup potato starch
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- ¼ white rice flour
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- slightly greater than ½ teaspoon xanthan gum*
- For Caramel Topping:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Extra:
- Small can pineapple tidbits
- ½ pint raspberries
- Whipped cream (optional)
- In a small bowl, mix together orange juice and Greek yogurt until smooth and allow to come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, begin making caramel topping. Place butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar in saucepan and melt on low heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. This should take about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Scoop about ½ tablespoon of caramel sauce into each muffin tin (enough to thinly coat the entire bottom). You should have enough for about 14 muffin tins.
- Drain pineapple tidbits and place 4-5 tidbits on top of the caramel topping in a star shaped pattern. Slice 7 raspberries in half (or keep whole if they are small) and place in the middle of each muffin well.
- Begin making cake batter by creaming together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together oat flour, potato starch, almond flour, coconut flour, white rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.
- Add half of your sifted dry ingredients to your egg mixture and mix on low until combined. Add your orange juice/yogurt mixture and mix on low until combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix on medium speed for an additional minute.
- Divide batter between 14 muffin tins (about ¼ cup batter in each tin) until about ⅔ way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until tops spring back at touch of a finger or toothpick inserted into middle of cakes comes out clean, or with few crumbs.
- Cool cakes in tins on a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Place top of cooling rack on top of cakes. Holding the pan and cooling rack together, flip muffin tin over and give a slight jiggle to release cakes. Replace any missing pineapple pieces that stuck to tin or moved positions.
- Serve cakes warm with whipped cream or ice cream and fresh raspberries.
Oh man! One day I am going to have kids and have the next 18 years flash before my eyes.
Until then, I will eat ALL of these adorable little pineapple cakes! Mini means I can eat more right 😉 Pinning!
Awww! Thanks Taylor! You seriously made my day! And heaven help the rest of the world once you have kids because they are going to be the cutest little things ever!!!