Right Side Up Pineapple Cake - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix, prepared as directed using
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 1/3 cups water
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 (5 1/4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding, prepared as directed using
2 cups milk
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 -3 medium bananas, sliced (optional)
1 (1 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 - 1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup shredded coconut
24 maraschino cherries, halves

Preparation

Bake cake according to pkg. directions in a 13x9 pan.
In a small saucepan combine the undrained pineapple and brown sugar over medium-high heat.
Boil for 5 minutes, reducing heat if necessary--DO NOT LET SUGAR MIXTURE BURN--stirring constantly.
Pour this mixture over warm cake and let cool.
Meanwhile, prepare the instant pudding per pkg.
directions with the 2 cups of milk; add the softened cream cheese to the prepared pudding and blend well.
Pour this over top of cooled cake.
Evenly place banana slices over the top of the cake, if desired.
Top with Cool Whip, covering bananas completely.
Sprinkle with pecans then sprinkle with coconut.
Decorate with maraschino cherries.
Refrigerate any leftover cake.