Chocolate Cherry Upside Down Cake

I have very vivid memories of eating my mother's pineapple upside down cake... smothered with melting cool whip... spooning up every last drop of yumminess off the plate (and honestly, I was only using my spoon because my mother wouldn't let me lick the plate clean, if she happened to turn her back, the spoon was left on the table... yeah, seriously. Please don't tell her that though. I was a kid! I didn't have the patience to use a spoon on that stuff!) Man, that dessert was fantastic! I'm definitely not bashing my mother's delicious cake, but one day I just needed to try something different. This is what I came up with.

Chocolate Cherry Upside Down Cake:
One box chocolate cake mix (try dark chocolate or devil's food)
One can cherry pie filling
4oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box. (I usually add one more egg and 1/4 c. more oil than what is called for. I like heavier cake, and that seems to do the trick.) Pour the pie filling into the cake pan and spread evenly. Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, then plop it on top of the pie filling in the pan. (The first time I did this, I was very particular about spreading and layering carefully... I'll give you a tip: Don't waste your time doing that! The pie filling and cream cheese melt together when the cake is baking, no matter how meticulously you layer them.) Pour the cake batter in the pan. Bake as directed on the box for whatever size of pan you are using. Now, take that to your mom's house for dessert and see if you can catch her licking the plate when she thinks you're not looking!

*Again, your imagination is the limit with what you can do! Try a spice cake with an apple pie filling, a lemon cake with blueberry pie filling, a yellow cake with peach pie filling... on and on! Get creative! Your taste buds will thank you.