From Daryl aka Avery:
Just took a vacation to Hawaii. It was so wonderful. I have been writing nonstop for about a year and then dealing with some personal family issues, so I was really ready for "nothing." I mean nothing. I wanted to lie in a chaise lounge and read a book and not think about anything. Very little Internet. Very little social media. I did some; I cannot lie. But no writing. No characters swimming in my head. No PR to sell my latest book. It was wonderful!!
Anyway, while I was there, I thought of a fan, Robin Coxon, who responded to a question I asked a few months ago: what recipe would you like to see on this site? And she wanted a Hawaiian Luau cake that her mother made, but never wrote a recipe for.
I felt challenged when I came back. I could do this. I looked online and found a number of Hawaiian-type cakes, but nothing seemed quite like Robin described it, with the fruit and coconut and, well, everything.
So, with a little imagination, I mixed up a couple of recipes and came up with this. It's pretty much a dump cake until the sauce portion. Everything goes into the bowl and stir. it's really moist. It's really sweet. It's perfect for a book club meeting.
Robin, I hope you'll test the recipe and tell me if I came even "close"!!! :)
Hawaiian Luau Cake
Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 16-ounce can of
fruit salad, with liquid
Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup flaked coconut
Sauce:
1 more cup white
sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick butter (8
tablespoons)
1 cup flaked coconut
Directions:
Sift together flour, 1 cup of sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Beat 2 eggs and pour over dry mixture. Add fruit salad, WITH
liquid. *Note: most cans of fruit salad are 14.5 ounces. I added about 2
tablespoons of chopped pineapple to enhance.
Stir together until well
incorporated.
Grease and flour 9 x 13 dish. Pour in
mixture. Smooth out.
Mix brown sugar and coconut and
sprinkle over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes,
until brown and toothpick comes out clean.
It will be a “low” cake.
Over medium heat, cook together sugar, milk, butter and
coconut. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and boil for 5 minutes, until thickened.
Pour over cake while still hot.
Serve warm.
GLUTEN-FREE VERSION
*If making this
gluten-free, substitute 2 cups gluten-free flour (white in color) for the regular
flour and add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Make sure you sift as directed with the
sugar, baking soda and baking powder.
Savor the mystery!
Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames
Tasty ~ Zesty ~ Dangerous!
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Yum! This cakes sounds similar to one my grandmother used to make but I never found her recipe. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. I hope Robin Coxon checks the blog today. I'll definitely "tweet" her. ;)
DeleteDaryl
Another great recipe, Daryl! I have a similar recipe, too, but it uses canned pineapple instead of fruit salad - I'll definitely try this. I do like the fact that there's no butter/oil. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I had a cake like this a few times growing up. It was very good!
ReplyDeleteThis cake sounds like something Marc's family used to love, and they made it with the kind of fruit salad that only had one cherry. He and his brother competed for who would find the red orb first. Marc never knew how his Mom made this. Now, with your recipe in hand we'll have one, pronto. (I'm a sucker for coconut, so I'm all in, too) Thanks, Daryl.
ReplyDelete~ Cleo
Well done.
ReplyDeleteOne question--what size is the can of fruit?