By Holly Dayton ’13, Perspectives Editor

It can be hard to readjust to school after a long, relaxing Spring Break. After working diligently all day, you return home from school feeling tired and hungry. What you really want is something sweet and satisfying that you can pull out of the fridge, and I have just the recipe. Courtesy of Cooking Lite, this fairly simple recipe for pineapple-coconut-banana upside-down cake is sure to become an instant hit. It uses refreshing, easy-to-find, tropical ingredients like pineapple and coconut that bring back the calm breeze of a Caribbean Spring Break. Cut a slice, kick back, and taste the relaxation.

Ingredients:

Yield: 10 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 (15 ½ ounce) can pineapple slices in juice, undrained

1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

1 cup all-purpose flour *Note, when measuring out flour, lightly spoon it into a measuring cup and level with a flat edge.*

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 banana)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt butter in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet on low heat, remove from the heat and sprinkle evenly with brown sugar, Drain pineapple slices over a bowl, reserving ½ cup juice.

Place 1 pineapple ring in center of skillet. Cut remaining pineapple rings in half and arrange around center pineapple ring. Sprinkle evenly with coconut. Set aside.

Combine flour and the next 5 ingrediants (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Separately, combine reserved juice, banana, oil, and egg, stirring with a whisk. Add pineapple juice mixture to flour mixture, stirring until combined. Pour flour mixture over coconut. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick (toothpick) inserted in the center comes out clean (no crumbs clinging). Invert onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe From:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000577208