Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!
I missed last month’s Cake Slice Bakers cake bake and was determined to make this awesome Vanilla Sponge Cake with Pineapple Filling and Caramel Frosting. It’s from Little Everyday Cakes by Candace Floyd and her photo in the book looks terrific.
I originally posted the recipe without photos because I had to, uhm, clean up the mess I made (I wasn’t prepared – my fault) of this beautiful cake. Candace’s instructions are excellent. Susan following the instructions – not so great. Read on!
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My sister, Glenda, is a wonderful cook. She’s one of those naturally talented cooks who can throw ingredients together, say “oh, that old thing?” and end up with a masterpiece in home cooking.
I, on the other hand, am cooking-challenged and have to work diligently to make something special. I end up with food in my hair and Glenda ends up looking like Mrs. Cleaver.
That’s why when I saw this recipe from Glenda in the family cookbook, I knew it was going to be good. Fruit Cocktail Cake? I don’t think I would’ve made it had it just popped up in Pinterest.
The cake turned out really nicely, with a light spongy texture, and every once in awhile a bite of fruit would come through. I think next time I would chop up a cup or so of pineapple and throw it in. That would take it to the next level.
The star of the cake, though, is that coconut caramel icing! It’s so simple to make, but comes out so rich and caramel-y, and is perfect for the not-so-sweet cake.
It was hard not to lick up the remains from the icing pan. Wonderful stuff. As you can see, the cake didn’t take long to disappear. I made the cake on Monday afternoon and this is the pan on Tuesday morning:
If you don’t prefer coconut (aka Bret), you can leave it out and you’d still have an outstanding icing.
Fruit Cocktail Cake with Coconut Caramel Icing may sound strange, but the combinations are great. I’m still looking for that ‘cocktail’ part, though.
Spongy soft barely sweet cake with a phenomenal coconut caramel icing.
Tips and Stuff:
Remember not to drain the fruit cocktail – it needs that liquid in the batter.
I used evaporated milk.
Start checking the cake at 30 minutes by the clean-toothpick method. Mine was done between 30-35 minutes. It will be fairly brown on top.
Although not called for in the recipe, after the cake was baked I poked small holes so the icing would go down into the cake a bit.
Nutrition Values are Approximate
I’m jumping on the Great Autumn Pumpkin Bandwagon (that’s what I call it anyway) and posting the best pumpkin recipe ever. Ever. I’ve made this pumpkin bread for years because it’s so very good and moist. Nothing worse than a dry quick bread.
This year the recipe is even better with the addition of caramel icing.
We never ate pumpkin when I was a kid. My Mom made everything with sweet potatoes (including an incredible sweet potato pie). To this day, I don’t really like pumpkin pie, but I do love this pumpkin bread!
This icing originally came from a Pumpkin Cookie with Icing recipe, but I made a mess out of the cookies and ended up using the icing on my tried-and-true pumpkin bread recipe. The result is very successful and the recipe immediately altered to include the icing in the instructions.
Bret has a general mistrust of quick breads – I promise him I don’t put onions in them, but he’s suspicious. He liked this pumpkin bread, though, and compared the icing to his grandmother’s famous banana bread caramel frosting. It’s a great compliment.
This Pumpkin Bread with Caramel Icing is thick, moist and delicious. It’s just rich enough and the icing surprisingly doesn’t make it too sweet. Give me a fork and let me loose with this bread. Awesome.
Put this pumpkin bread recipe on your holiday recipe list. I promise it won’t disappoint and your friends and family (and you) will love it. It makes 2 loaves, so you can give one away and keep one for yourself!
Outstanding pumpkin bread with amazing caramel icing.
Tips and Stuff:
I used freshly grated nutmeg because the flavor is so much better (and my bottled nutmeg is probably 10 years old).
My bread came out best when I used a glass loaf dish for baking. My larger metal loaf pan browns the crust a little too much.
Be patient after adding the sifted powdered sugar to the icing - keep stirring until it's smooth and lump-free.
After removing the pans from the oven, while the loaves were still hot, I pressed down lightly on the tops with a pot holder to make it flatter. That way the icing isn't thin on the top and running down the sides (even with this thick icing).
As always, put a sheet of waxed paper under the rack while you're icing the loaves.
Nutrition Values are Approximate