Blackberry Pineapple Crumble

I am always a sucker for recipes that are so simple you don't even have to write them down. And when they turn out to be UTTERLY FANTASTIC, well that is just the perfect alignment of the moons and stars of the Calorie Galaxy! THIS....is one of those recipes.

Got it from my not-my-aunt-but-I-call-her-Aunt Sandy. She made this over Christmas and when I asked her for the recipe, she was able to tell it to me (and I was able to remember) with no movement of the pen. GLORY BE!

To add to the glory, there is a lower-cal alternative, which is the version I went with. I'll detail both.

Scroll down for full recipe or stay tuned for the play-by-play.

First, the ingredients. All that are mandatory are vanilla cake mix, crushed pineapple, and a bag of frozen blackberries (oh and butter)...I also added cinnamon and pecans to mine (more on that later).

Start by thawing your blackberries and draining your crushed pineapple as much as you can. Then drain just a bit of the juice off your blackberries. Doesn't matter how much, just depends on how juicy you like your crumble to be.

Stir your pineapple and blackberries together just until combined, in a 9x9 baking dish. For the lower calorie version, sprinkle about half your cake mix over the fruit.

Cut your butter (about half a stick) in small slices and lay on top of the cake mix. I have seen recipes like this that use melted butter, but slicing it like this is WAY BETTER. You must trust me on this.

At this point if you want to add cinammon or pecans (like me), this is the time. I added about half a cup of chopped pecans and about 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Just sprinkle both on top.

Bake the whole she-bang for 40-50 min at 350 degrees. (Honestly what I do is bake for 30 minutes and then just watch until it is as brown as I like it to be).

ENJOY YOUR SIMPLE MASTERPIECE. Your friends will think this is very complicated and that you spent legitimate time on it. Score!

Blackberry Pineapple Crumble

1 15 oz can crushed pineapple in juice (not syrup)
1 bag frozen blackberries
1 box vanilla cake mix
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drain pineapple and blackberries, and mix together in 9x13 baking dish.

Sprinkle entire cake mix over fruit.
Cut butter in small slices and lay on top of cake mix.

Sprinkle nuts and cinnamon on top of butter.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm. (with ice cream!)

Lower-calorie alternative: use same amounts of fruit but use half cake mix and half stick of butter, and 1/2 cup of pecans. Better in 9x9 baking dish this way.