Sticky-Bun Upside-Down Cupcakes

These might be my favorite invention.  I souped up a white cake recipe with maple and almond extracts and added a little semolina flour to make the batter sturdier...then I put a mixture of walnuts, raisins, brown sugar, and margarine in the bottom of the tins to give them a sticky-bun-like topping.  Delicious.

The Ingredients:
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
6 T margarine, melted
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts
1 t cinnamon

Cake:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup super-fine semolina flour (or almond flour, or more unbleached flour)
3/4 cup sugar
1 T tapioca starch
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 cups almond milk (reduce by about 1/4 if not using semolina flour)
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup light olive oil
1 t vanilla extract
1 t maple extract (or more vanilla)
1/2 t almond extract


The Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Oil 24 cupcake tins or a 9x13 cake pan or 2 8-inch round pans.
3. For topping, mix together margarine and brown sugar.  Pulse together raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until walnuts are chopped.  Place a dab of brown sugar/margarine goo in the bottom of each cupcake tin (or spread evenly over the bottom of the cake pan).  Top with a spoonful of the walnut/raisin mixture, and pat it down firmly.
4. For the cake, whisk together dry ingredients until well-combined, then stir in almond milk, margarine, oil, and extracts.  Divide cake batter evenly among the prepared pan(s).
5. Bake for 22-24 minutes for cupcakes, a few minutes longer for larger cakes.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes , then run a knife around the edges to loosen, and invert.  If any topping is stuck in the bottom of the pan, spoon it out onto the cake.
7. Soak the pans IMMEDIATELY, or they'll be crazy hard to clean.