Pineapple Upside-Down Muffin Cakes

Third week of Advent, the week of joy. Calvin has been in his study since five AM every morning this week because the Christmas sermons require everything he has, and this year more than most because preaching Christmas when you have buried your youngest child requires the kind of theological courage that I don't know if I could sustain and that Calvin sustains, imperfectly and completely, because he has no choice and because he was made for this and because the congregation needs him and he does not let the congregation go hungry. Not ever. The man is a vessel. The vessel holds.

I have been baking all week. This is what I do in the third week of Advent: I bake. The cookies and the cakes and the quick breads, the things that fill the house with sugar and warmth, the baked goods that get wrapped and delivered to the homebound members of the congregation, the ones who can't come to church, the ones who are alone or sick or simply far from the places they used to gather. Bernice used to do this—the Advent baking, the delivery, the standing at doors with foil-wrapped packages and a smile that said you are not forgotten—and I do it because Bernice did it and because forgetting people is not something I can do.

I made pound cake this week. Bernice's pound cake—the dense, golden, buttery kind that requires a full pound of butter and a full pound of sugar and a full pound of flour and all the eggs you can get, and which comes out of the pan after forty-five minutes looking like something a Bessemer church woman produced at the dawn of time specifically to comfort the world. I made four. I delivered two. I kept one for Christmas. I put one on Willie James's table at the nursing home and he ate three slices in front of me and said, "Bernice made this," and I said, "Yes, Daddy," and he said, "She'll be happy you got it right," and I said, "I hope so, Daddy," and I meant it with everything I have. I hope she is.

The pound cake was Bernice’s, and I would not change a single thing about it — but this week I also made a batch of these little pineapple upside-down muffin cakes, because they travel in a way a full loaf doesn’t, and because some of the homebound members can only manage a few bites at a time, and two small cakes in a foil cup feel like exactly the right portion of being remembered. Bernice would have approved. She was practical about love.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved
6 maraschino cherries, halved
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons reserved pineapple juice

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin well, including the rims.
Make the topping. Stir together the melted butter and brown sugar. Spoon about 1 teaspoon into the bottom of each muffin cup. Press a small spoonful of drained crushed pineapple over the brown sugar mixture, then place a cherry half, cut side up, in the center of each cup.
Mix the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add softened butter, milk, egg, vanilla, and reserved pineapple juice. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until smooth and well combined.
Fill the cups. Spoon batter evenly over the pineapple topping in each muffin cup, filling each about 2/3 full.
Bake. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are set and lightly golden.
Invert immediately. Run a thin knife around the edge of each cup. Place a wire rack or baking sheet over the pan and flip in one confident motion. Let the pan rest upside down for 1 minute before lifting so the brown sugar topping releases cleanly onto each cake.
Cool and deliver. Allow to cool on the rack. To wrap for delivery, place each muffin cake in a foil cupcake cup or small paper liner and cover loosely with plastic wrap or foil. They hold well at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pineapple Upside-Down Muffin Cakes — Wrapped in Foil and Left at the Door