Pineapple Coconut Upside Down Cake

When I was a kid my mom made Pineapple Upside down cakes and I loved them. I've tried making them like she did but never seem to get them just right. Then it hit me. The key is in the cast iron skillet! I decided to give it a try to see if I could copy the taste I remember as a kid. This was pretty close. This is what I did.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a cast iron skillet I cooked, over medium high heat (1 cake):

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup crushed pineapple in thick sauce (don't drain)

I let this cook until most of the liquid was gone. The pineapple actually turns a little brown. While this was cooking I mixed up a yellow cake mix. This was then poured on top of my pineapple mixture and baked for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center came out clean.

Now I have to tell you that I made 2 of these since the cake mix is enough for a 2 layer cake and my cast iron pans aren't much larger than a cake pan. So, for my second cake I decided to add about 3/4 cup of coconut to the pineapple. The one without the coconut was pretty close to my mom's but I have to admit that the one with coconut was wonderful!

You could change this up by adding nuts or cherries which would add color. This is a really simple recipe and very inexpensive to make.