In a small pot over medium heat, stir together 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and a teaspoon of whiskey. Once the mixture starts to bubble, let it cook another minute or two. It should thicken a little. Remove from heat and spoon into a buttered cupcake pan. Now, lay in the pineapple slices and cherry halves. I found that my pineapple slices were a bit too big for standard size baking cups. To remedy this, I sliced out a bit of the pineapple, shown in the photo above.
For the batter, first whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Now, cream together the softened butter and sugar. Stir in the eggs, whiskey and vanilla extract. Now, add in half the flour mixture and stir. Then, pour in the reserved 1/2 cup pineapple juice, stir. Then, add the remaining flour mixture. Spoon the mixture over the prepared pineapple filled pans. Don't overfill the cups, but they will be slightly more full than standard cupcake recipes. One heaping spoonful per cup should do it.
Bake at 350°F for 25-28 minutes until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes. While they cooled, I laid a cutting board over the cakes to help create a flatter bottom for them to sit on. Invert the pan over a cutting board or large plate to turn the mini cakes upside down (which for these is right side up). If any pineapple pieces fall off, put them back in place.
