Kitchen Mailbox: Hawaiian Wedding Cake recipes chock full of sweet goodies

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Kitchen Mailbox: Hawaiian Wedding Cake recipes chock full of sweet goodies

Thursday, February 17, 2000

By Arlene Burnett, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

When Kitchen Mailbox prints a request and we receive dozens of responses, chances are we've got a winning recipe. Our recipe today, Hawaiian Wedding Cake, is just that.

When we receive numerous responses, we'll often test more than one recipe. We tried to decide which of these cakes we liked best -- an impossible task. So we'll tell you what we like best about each recipe.

We'll begin by saying that both cakes are easy to prepare and both cakes contain pineapple, nuts and coconut.There the similarities end. The first cake is made with a packaged cake mix and it has four delectable layers -- cake, a pudding and cream cheese spread, a layer of pineapple and coconut and a layer of whipped topping, nuts and cherries. Need we say more? Keep this recipe on hand; it will make a great summer dessert.

The second Hawaiian Wedding Cake is like a carrot cake without the carrots. This cake is made from scratch. Pineapple and nuts are stirred into the batter. A creamy sweet icing of butter and powdered sugar is spread atop the cooled cake. We enjoyed every bite.

A recipe for Hawaiian Wedding cake was requested by D. Barker of Lawrenceville. The first recipe was sent in by Marge Farquhar of Allenport, Pa. It is luscious.

Hawaiian Wedding Cake

1 box yellow cake mix, see note 1 (5.9-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 21/2 cups milk 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained (we put the pineapple in a colander for about 20 minutes) About 3/4 cup flaked coconut 8 ounces whipped topping About 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped nuts About 1 cup Maraschino cherries, sliced

Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into a 10-by-15-inch (jelly roll) lightly greased pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until tested done.

Allow cake to cool.

Mix pudding with milk; beat in cream cheese, then spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle on coconut. Spoon on pineapple; spread on whipped topping. Place cherries over whipped topping -- sprinkle nuts over whipped topping.

Note: We couldn't find a yellow cake mix with pudding that was called for in this recipe, so we substituted an ordinary yellow cake mix and was pleased with the results.

Note: We feel that the amounts of nuts, cherries and coconut can be varied according to taste without drastically changing this recipe.

Donna Bernazzoli of Verona sent in this wonderful version of Hawaiian Wedding Cake.

Hawaiian Wedding Cake

2 cups sifted flour 2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 eggs, beaten 1 cup nuts, crushed 1 cup flaked coconut 1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained

Sift together flour, sugar and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients. Combine well, but do not beat. Turn batter into a greased and floured 13-by-9-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until tested done.

Spread topping on warm cake.

Topping

8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla 11/2 cups powdered sugar

Beat together all ingredients, combining well.

Requests

Pittsburgh native Lois Minucci of Ocala, Fla., would like a good recipe for Italian spaghetti sauce.

Deb Nichols of Fox Chapel is looking for a recipe for Overnight French Toast. This recipe consists of French bread, milk, eggs and vanilla and is refrigerated overnight before baking -- and it has a souffle-like texture.

Harriet Schmidt of Wales, Wis., would like the recipe for a cookie she said could only be found in Pittsburgh: Belgian Waffle Cookies. They're about 3 inches in diameter and made on some sort of waffle iron.

Judith Marshall of Elizabeth Township has requested a recipe for beef roast cooked with dry onion soup mix and canned cranberries.

Chris Niedermeyer of Uniontown would like a recipe for ricotta pie.

Rachel Martin of Moon is searching for a recipe that her husband's aunt used to make. It's a dense poppy seed cake made in an angel food pan with a streusel swirl in the cake and over the cake. Martin believes buttermilk or evaporated milk is called for in this recipe. This recipe is either from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or the Pittsburgh Press from 20 to 25 years ago.

Lenette Solano of Wexford is looking for a recipe for shrimp sauce that accompanies chicken and shrimp dishes in Japanese restaurants like Benihana.

Georgia Artuo of Butler would like the recipe for Jello Jigglers. This recipe is a combination of cream cheese and Jello cut into squares and served as "finger food." According to Artuo this recipe "calls for less water and they set up so you can pick them up."

Cheryl R. Towers would like a recipe for a Korean noodle dish, Zun Bong. Towers feels this dish could be considered a soup because of the large amount of liquid -- and it was spicy.

Dick Kraft of Bethel Park would like the recipe or a similar recipe for Boston Market's coleslaw.

If you want to answer a recipe request from a reader or are looking for a recipe yourself, please write to Kitchen Mailbox, c/o Arlene Burnett, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222, or e-mail to aburnett@post-gazette.com. Please include a name, neighborhood and a daytime phone number on all correspondence. All recipes are kitchen-tested by the Post-Gazette.