VERY easy, VERY good. I used ground turkey and low-sodium V8 so I could add tastier/healthier sea salt. Added tabasco sauce, one can of beef stock, and one can (undrained) of diced tomatos. One beneficial accident - only frozen veggies I could find were PictSweet brand "Old Fashioned Vegetable Soup" mix. They were a more interesting blend of veggies than the normal, cut much larger, and with a seasoning mix already on them. A truly great addition, if you can find it!

Reviewed On: Jan. 27, 2007

Yummy, yum, yum! Whatever you do, DO NOT forego the cast iron skillet if you can help it. That is without a doubt the secret ingredient, as it makes a crisp and gooey "crust" of the butter and brown sugar that was everyone's favorite part. (In fact, next time I'm going to try one of those iron cornbread skillets that looks like a pre-cut pie so that every slice will have that crust all the way around!) I used only 1c brown sugar because I was scared it would be too sweet, but I'll use all the brown sugar next time. Any kind of pineapple will do (I used chunk), and if you don't like maraschino cherries (like me) or don't have them, just leave them out! I like this cake with yellow cake and used Foxy's "Yellow Cake Made From Scratch" instead of a white cake mix. Thanks SO much, Anne! My dad said it's exactly like his mom used to make, and that's the ultimate compliment!

Reviewed On: Nov. 29, 2006

Very good cake! Mine turned out pretty dense, but I was making a pineapple upside down cake, so that was fine (and I did NOT follow any of the recommendations on ways to make it lighter). I used an equal amount of butter in place of the shortening, and followed other reviewers with the 2tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. My cook time was drastically increased, but I'm sure that had much more to do with the way I had to cook it and how thick the cake was in the cast iron pot. Overall, this recipe is EASY and pairs beautifully with Anne's "Pineapple Upside-Down Cake VII." Thanks, Foxy!!

Reviewed On: Nov. 29, 2006