Simple Gingered Pineapple Cake

Since we've started getting half-shares from our local organic co-op every week or two, we often have a whole pineapple sitting around waiting to be eaten.  My husband isn't a big fan and Dinobaby can't really have it yet because of the high acidity, so it leaves all of our pineapple consumption up to me! 

We have a fresh new pineapple ripening on the counter, so I needed to use up some of last week's and this is what I came up with: Gingered Pineapple Cake!  Thanks to a lovely clearance end cap at Target, I had a box of yellow cake mix in the pantry (that only cost $0.90!  And I promise it wasn't expired.), so I figured some sort of pineapple upside down something was in order. 

I realize that the cake part probably negates about 89.99% of the fruit's natural organic goodness, but c'mon.  Everybody needs some cake every once in a while!  Well, at least I do.

The results of my experiment?  Somewhat close to heavenly.  I've had to stop myself several times from standing over the cake pan with a fork saying, "Mommy's watching you from the kitchen!  No, baby.  Get down from there!  *Om nom nom*."  It's funny what a cake can do.

Simple Gingered Pineapple Cake
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Fresh Chopped Pineapple
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, Packed
• 1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1 (generous) pinch Ground Ginger
• 1 Tablespoon Butter, For The Pineapple Mixture
• 1 box Butter Recipe Yellow Cake Mix, 18.25oz (I Used Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden)
• 3 whole Eggs (according To Package Directions)
• ½ cups Butter, Softened (according To Package Directions)
• ⅔ cups Water (according To Package Directions)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Spray a 13×9 glass baking dish with non-stick spray for baking or grease and lightly flour.

In a skillet over medium low heat, combine pineapple, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and butter. It’s best if the pineapple was able to sit in a bowl a little after it was chopped to release some of its juices — the juice will help dissolve the brown sugar. If not, add a couple teaspoons of water to help things along. Let the pineapple come to a low boil.

While the skillet is bubbling, prepare the cake mix according to the package directions with the eggs, softened butter, and water. Make sure to beat until the batter is light and fluffy.

Once the batter is ready, pour the pineapple mixture into the bottom of the cake pan and spread evenly. Top with the cake batter and smooth the batter so that all of the pineapple chunks are hidden.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan over a wire rack, then serve with milk, fresh whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!