While I’m not sure how or when it started, there is no denying that I have an extremely mean sweet tooth. It shows up all the time in the way I cook savory food — but it goes bananas when I get to dessert.
None of this means that I need my sweets to be complicated. The desserts in my cookbook “The Seasoned Life” are all easy to make. This one in particular is something of a cheater recipe because it uses a box of cake mix. Still, I love this recipe because not only is it foolproof (after all, it’s pretty hard to mess up a boxed mix), but it’s a good trick to have when you need to make a dessert and are pressed for time.
The finished product is like an upside-down cake served right-side up.
Cast-Iron ‘Fruit Cake’
Makes 1 (10-inch) cake
Ingredients
1 box favorite yellow cake mix (I like Duncan Hines), plus any ingredients needed for the mix
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ packed cup dark brown sugar
1 pint blackberries
1 cup diced pineapple
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Leaves from 2 thyme sprigs
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Prepare the cake mix batter as directed on the package and set aside.
In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and stir in the brown sugar. When the sugar has dissolved, stir in the berries, pineapple, and thyme. Mix until the brown sugar begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat.
Pour the cake batter into the skillet and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Scoop the cake directly from the pan while still warm and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Ayesha Curry is the author of “The Seasoned Life” and “The Full Plate,” and is an entrepreneur, television host and restaurateur. She is mom to four children, daughters Riley and Ryan and sons Canon and Caius, and wife to basketball star Stephen Curry. She lives in the Bay Area in California.
Excerpted from “The Seasoned Life” by Ayesha Curry. Copyright (copyright) 2016 by Ayesha Curry. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.