Old Favorite: Fruit Cocktail Cake

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I love and adore this cake. This is another one of those long ago recipes that we’ve been making in my family for as long as I can remember. Having not had it in ages, today seemed like a good day to satisfy my weekend sweet tooth with a taste from my past.

This is one of my mother’s favorites. Made from scratch, the ingredients are simple and the recipe itself is not fussy at all, a combination I enjoy when its hot as Hades outside and my two kids are feeling whiny! If you’ve never had fruit cocktail cake before, you cannot imagine how delicious it is. I especially enjoy it warm. Then again, I also enjoy it room temp…and cold…and…oh darn it. I just love this cake any way you can give it to me. It is a very unique and moist flavor, unlike anything you’ve ever had!

For the cake you’ll need : Self rising flour, vanilla, sugar, eggs, and a can of fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. Easy Peasy!

Crack your eggs into a mixing bowl.

Add sugar

Add vanilla

Add flour

And fruit cocktail, juice and all.

Mix on slow speed until blended.

Scrape down sides and mix just a wee bit more.

Spray a 9×13 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for forty five minutes or until golden brown.

For the icing/sauce, you’ll need: Evaporated milk, pecans, margarine, sugar, and sweetened flaked coconut. Honestly, have you EVER had an icing with evaporate milk and pecans as ingredients and it NOT be divine?

Hang on to your hats.

Place margarine in medium sized saucepot and add milk.

Add sugar

And vanilla.

Add pecans

And coconut..

Stir. Bring to a boil, while stirring, over medium heat.

Boil for one to two minutes.

It should look like this. Don’t worry, its not really supposed to get thick.

This icing will remain pretty runny, which will be great when you pour it over your hot cake and it soaks all in.

Take hot cake out of the oven.

Pour hot icing over hot cake, spreading as you pour. Work fast now because this is going to immediately soak down into the cake and you don’t want coconut to be concentrated in one area and completely absent in the other. Spreading it as you pour it will help avoid this problem!

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Fruit Cocktail Cake

Ingredients
CAKE:
2 Cups self rising flour
1 can fruit cocktail
2 unbeaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ Cup sugar

SAUCE:
1 stick margarine
1 can coconut
1 Cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Cup evaporated milk
1 Cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
Mix all cake ingredients at low speed. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 in pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Boil sauce ingredients in pan for one to two minutes. Pour over hot cake.
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Please let me know if you try this!

Posted by Christy Jordan on Aug 2 2008. Filed under Cake, Dessert, FEATURED Southern Favorites!, Southern Classics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Shay

November 11, 2011 - 8:46 pm

My mom used to make this all the time. And especially on the holidays! She passed about 6 years ago and I lost her recipe. I had most of it memorized but this helped with the missing pieces!! Thank you for helping me bring back some memories this Thanksgiving. All of my sisters will be so jealous… lol