vegan pineapple upside down cupcakes

over the weekend i was in sd hanging out with my family. had a fun time baking pineapple upside down cupcakes with my nieces.

Ingredients

For the batter:
6 Tbs Vegan Butter or Margarine
1/2 cup Vanilla Soy Milk
1 cup Flour (i used whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1/3 cup Applesauce
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the topping:
6 Tbs Vegan Butter or Margarine
3/4 cup of Brown Sugar (but I'm sure you could also use a raw/natural sugar)
6 Cherries
1 (20-ounce) can Pineapple Rings

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray oil in each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan.
2) Melt the butter and milk for the batter in a saucepan over medium heat stirring occasionally. When the butter is melted, remove from heat to cool.
3) Meanwhile, prepare the pineapple topping, by putting 1/2 tablespoon of butter into each cup of a 12-cup muffin pan. Evenly sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over bottom of each cup. Place pan in oven until butter melts (about 3 minutes).
4) Cut the cherries in half, and cut the pineapple rings in quarters. Place a cherry half, sliced side up, in the center of each cup and lay a pineapple quarter on each side. Press the fruit down gently.
5) In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and stir with a fork until blended. In a large bowl, whisk together the applesauce, sugar, and vanilla extract until mixed well. Add flour mixture to the applesauce/sugar mixture, and stir until the flour is incorporated. Add the milk/butter mixture and stir well to make a smooth batter.
6) Poor the batter into each cup of the muffin pan. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly brown, dry around the edges, and pulling away from the pan - about 25 minutes.
7) Transfer the pan to a rack to cool for 5 minutes. Loosen each cupcake carefully by running a butter knife around the edges. Place a cookie sheet over the top, and invert pan, moving the cupcakes to the cookie sheet (pineapple on top...as is an upside-down cake). Cool completely.


** recipe adapted from http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=28981.0)