Well mark this down as one of the best things I've ever created. In searching for more pineapple themed recipes I stumbled upon a trend called "soda cake" which I've never heard of before. So apparently in cake mix instead of adding eggs, water, and oil, you can just pour in a can of soda and that's all you need! I had to try it and I can confirm that not only does it work, but it made the cake taste so much better! You can really taste the soda and it made the cake so nice and fluffy too! So here's my take for Pineapple Summer.

The following recipe makes exactly 18 cupcakes total.

What You'll Need:
-1 box of pineapple cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Pineapple Supreme)
-One 12 oz can of cream soda (pineapple soda probably would have been great too)
-One 20 oz can of crushed pineapple
-maraschino cherries
-brown sugar
-cooking spray
-One 12 cup nonstick muffin pan
-1 bigger or equal sized cookie sheet to the muffin pan (important for later)

Step 1:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:
-In a wire colander drain the can of crushed pineapple. You're going get as much moisture out of the pineapple as possible. I'd recommend using a paper towel to press on it and force as much of the juice out as possible.

Step 3:
-In a large bowl, add the cake mix and the can of cream soda. That's it! No eggs, oil, or water. Just whisk it up the way you would any cake batter then set it aside.

Step 4:
-Spray the muffin pan with cooking spray. Then take one maraschino cherry and split it in half. You'll only need half a cherry for each cupcake. Place the cherry half cap side down directly in the middle of each muffin slot.

Step 5:
-With the cherries in the middle you're now going to build a ring of pineapple around it. Try to equally distribute the pineapple as much as you can around the cherry until it's held in place. Continue this step for each muffin slot.

Step 6:
-Sprinkle a thin layer of brown sugar directly on top of your cherry and pineapple ring in each muffin slot. Press down on it a bit to level it out.

Step 7:
-Using half an ice cream scoop of the pineapple soda cake batter, plop directly on top in each muffin slot.

Step 8:
-Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

Step 9:
Crucial step! When the cupcakes are done, remove them from the oven and place the cookie sheet over the muffin tin upside down. While wearing hot pads, hold onto both the muffin tin and the cookie sheet and flip both upside down so that the muffin tin is now facing down on top of the cookie sheet. Let it rest for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Once the muffin tin is cool enough to touch, lift it up and if all went well, then all 12 cupcakes should have released and are ready to go!

No frosting required. Trust me, they're sweet enough as it is. But for an extra bit, top them with a bit of whipped cream. Coconut whipped cream if you can find it.