I’m not sure where I’ve been, but I recently discovered that we have the Cooking Channel. I feel like I’ve been missing out – I love it! I was also surprised to see Hungry Girl on the channel – I used to read her emails but hadn’t realized she’d ballooned into her own empire. I did some browsing on the site and was pleasantly surprised – there were quite a few things I was interested in trying out.

This cake won the honor of being first simply because I had an open box of yellow cake mix I was looking to use up. It was great and didn’t feel “diet-ish” at all. According to Hungry Girl, each slice (1/8th of the cake) clocks in at a reasonable 189 calories.

Pinapple Upside-Down Cake
(from Hungry Girl)

1 T. light whipped butter
1/4 cup brown sugar (not packed)
7 pineapple rings packed in juice, drained
Half of an 18.25-oz. box (about 1 1/2 cups) moist-style yellow cake mix
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. club soda
1/4 c. no-sugar-added applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a round cake pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Place butter in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 15 seconds, just until melted. Add brown sugar and mix well. Spread mixture evenly along the bottom of the cake pan. Set aside.

Blot pineapple rings with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Lay pineapple rings in an even layer in the cake pan. Set aside.

To make the batter, combine cake mix with baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well. Add club soda and applesauce, and stir until smooth.

Evenly pour batter into the cake pan over the fruit layer. Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 – 35 minutes.

Allow cake to cool completely. Firmly and securely place a plate over the pan, and carefully flip so the plate is on the bottom. Gently lift pan to release the cake.