Pineapple Cupcakes

I got the chance to bake again this weekend, and decided I wanted to make something on the summery-fruity side. I thought pineapple cupcakes might be an interesting twist. Some google searches revealed a lot of recipes for pineapple upside down cakes, but not a lot of straightforward pineapple cake recipes. Eventually I found a recipe for pineapple Bundt cake on Genesis of a Cook that I thought looked good, and decided to try it. Instead of going with a traditional frosting, I decided to make a caramel-rum glaze for the cupcakes. The glaze was good, but only really stayed on the tops of the cupcakes for maybe 30 minutes. After that it really just soaked in. These cupcakes were moist and dense, and I thought very tasty. I thought they were best within a day or two of baking,

Pineapple Cupcakes

Makes about 24 cupcakes

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg whites
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 (16 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the flour and the baking powder.

2. In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the cinnamon, salt, eggs and zest, beat until thoroughly combined. Fold in flour. Stir in pineapple and juice.

3. Fill cupcake liners with a ¼ cup measure. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool.

Caramel-Rum Glaze

½ cup(1 stick) unsalted butter 

¼ cup water 

1 cup sugar 

½ cup dark rum

1. Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the water and sugar, stir until combined, and bring to a boil. Boil for 5-7 minutes, until it just begins to turn a caramel color.

2. Remove from heat. Carefully pour in the rum – be careful, it will steam and bubble.

3. Let the glaze cool until thickened. Spoon over the cupcakes.