I’m on a bit of a pineapple kick right now, in case you hadn’t noticed. I think this week’s especially bad weather is making me will summer to come sooner by using summer foods in my cooking.

This hasn’t been successful. I think the rain ruined my purple flats today. I may have worn those out of delusional optimism, too.

Anyway, this is not your usual pineapple upside-down cake. Please don’t get angry at me for this- I’m just not a big fan of maraschino cherries. I also used cake mix… I know, I know. I’m letting myself get away with it this once because I almost never use it.

Begin by chopping and hulling the pineapple and strawberries. You can totally use canned pineapple- it’s up to you! I’ve just had a lot of pineapple on hand lately. Rinse the blueberries, too.

Next, mix the cake mix according to package directions. I used yellow, because that’s my favorite. Feel free to throw in some pineapple juice here.

Put a tablespoon of butter in the bottom of two 8 or 9 inch cake pans. Or you could use a 9×13 inch baking pan. Whatever floats your boat. Put these in your preheated oven just long enough to melt the butter. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the butter. I was almost out of brown sugar, or I would have used a whole lot more.

Arrange the fruit in the bottom of the pans by putting the pineapple slices down, blueberries in the center of the pineapple slices, and strawberries around the slices.

Pour the cake mix right on over the fruit. Bake according to package directions. When done, cake should spring back when poked.

Let cool in pans for about ten minutes, then cool on plates. Otherwise it might stick to the cake pan, and we don’t want that.

Ta da! How easy was that? For minimal effort you get a very pretty looking dish. And it tastes FABULOUS. I thought about making some kind of simple glaze, but vanilla ice cream is easier, and let’s face it, just better sometimes.

Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 pineapple (at least six thinly cut slices), hulled and chopped
1/4 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 box yellow cake mix
Ingredients needed to make the cake mix (usually, oil, water, and eggs)
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to the temperature listed on the cake mix box (often 350 degrees). Make cake batter according to package directions. Replace an equal amount of pineapple juice with water if you like. Grease the sides of your cooking dish with cooking spray, and if using two 8 or 9 inch cake pans, put one tablespoon of the butter in each pan. If using a 9×13 inch cooking dish, put both tablespoons in the dish. Put your baking dish/es into the oven for just a few minutes, until the butter has melted. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter in each pan. Arrange the fruit on top of the brown sugar, placing blueberries in the center of the pineapple rings and strawberries around the outside of them. Pour the prepared cake batter directly on top of the fruit, and bake according to package directions. Once cooked, the cake should spring back when poked. Don’t let cool in the cake pans for more than 10 minutes, or the fruit will stick to the bottom of the pan. Serve with vanilla ice cream.