Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Balls

I made these Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Balls
for Little Princess' Lilo & Stitch Luau last week...

I had seen a couple different versions of these here & here,
but neither one included the yummy buttery brown sugar glaze
that is on traditional Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.
I was determined to somehow include it.

1 box Yellow cake mix

1 can crushed pineapple (well-drained, but reserve juice)

1 10 oz jar Maraschino cherries (drained)

1/4 cup butter (melted)

1 cup brown sugar

Vanilla frosting (may not need it)

Yellow candy melts

Make cake mix according to directions but substitute reserved pineapple juice for water called for in the directions. Mix in well-drained crushed pineapple last (I used about a cup, but might try more next time) & bake according to directions. Once completely cooled, crumble with hands or food processor. Combine brown sugar with melted butter. It's okay if not all the brown sugar melts. Drizzle warm brown sugar mixture over the top. Combine well. If the consistency is still off, add frosting little by little until the right consistency is achieved (holds together easily, but not too sticky). Form then flatten a ball of dough & place a cherry in the center. Firmly wrap the dough around the cherry to make a ball again. Place cake balls on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, then refrigerate 10-15 minutes to firm them up for dipping. Use a fork to submerge each cake ball into melted chocolate & carefully tap off any excess chocolate. Carefully slide the balls off of the fork onto the cookie sheet. 

Note: You may have to bake your cake longer than the directions if you didn't drain enough of the pineapple juice, so making sure that you drain them enough is an important step.

Note: You can chop your cherries & mix them in right after the buttery brown sugar if you don't want them whole.

xoxo

Pulled Pork Hawaiian Haystacks

I grew up eating Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner all the time.
You know...
A bed of rice,
chow mein noodles,
almond slivers,
pineapple,
cheese,
coconut,
diced chicken with some sort of gravy sauce that I never wanted to put on mine,
whatever you see fit really.
I've seen plenty of variations online lately
with all sorts of different toppings...

When we lived in California,
we were feeding some LDS missionaries for dinner
& decided to have Hawaiian Haystacks.
One of the elders was from the islands.
He informed us that although the meal was tasty,
the only things Hawaiian about it
were the pineapple, coconut, & the bed of rice.
That has bothered me ever since.

When I was planning Little Princess' Lilo & Stitch party
I instantly thought of Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner.

I started thinking of ways to make it slightly more authentic...
Spam?
Pork?
Fish?
Hawaiian Sweet Potatoes?
Teriyaki?
Poi?

Here's what we decided:

Ignore the blue jello with Swedish fish in the picture.
We didn't eat that on the Haystacks...

Pulled Pork Hawaiian Haystacks
Bed of rice
Crockpot Hawaiian Pulled Pork (recipe below)
Chow Mein noodles
Monterey Jack cheese
Almond slivers
Pineapple tidbits
Shredded coconut
Banana Poi (recipe below)

We tried it both with & without the poi on top.
I liked it both ways.
With the poi it is definitely sweeter,
but you don't need to add that much or it may overpower the other flavors.
A light drizzle should do (:

We served King's Sweet Hawaiian Rolls on the side of the Haystacks.
Hubby tried the pulled pork on those & said it was good too.

I found this recipe for Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pulled Pork over at East 9th Street,
but ended up doing a few things differently...

Crockpot Hawaiian Pulled Pork

3 lbs pork loin, cut into 3-4" pieces (next time I might try 2-3" pieces if using it for Haystacks)

1 cup onion, chopped into small pieces but not quite minced

2/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp paprika

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp salt

1 can crushed pineapple, drained (I only used 1/2 can since I needed the rest for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Balls, but next time I'm going to try the whole can)

Cut the pork & place in crockpot. Add the rest of the ingredients & cover. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the pork can be easily shredded with two forks. Shred all the meat in the crockpot & turn off heat.

As for the Banana Poi...

I found the recipe at food.com,

but could not find coconut cream anywhere

so I decided to try it with cream of coconut instead.

I just used whatever was left after making the piña coladas.

(approx 1/2 can)

Because I used cream of coconut instead of coconut cream,

my poi was probably a little sweeter than it would be if I had stuck to the original recipe.

Banana Poi

2 cups very ripe bananas, mashed

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 cup coconut cream (I used roughly 1/2 can cream of coconut instead)

Mash bananas until a smooth paste is formed. Add the lemon juice. Gradually add the coconut cream, stirring constantly. Chill & serve.

If you try this version of Hawaiian Haystacks
let me know what you think...

Do you like it better with or without the poi?

Don't forget to check out the Lilo & Stitch luau!

xoxo