When it comes to comfort food classics and desserts, the best place to look is the church potluck. While there is nothing in the bible specifically stating that members should bring biscuits, cakes, and jello salads to services each week, it's become a tradition to share family favorite recipes every Sunday afternoon with the community. Easy recipes such dump cakes have always been a favorite. In the South, an old-fashioned fruit cocktail cake, which was introduced in the 1950s, can sometimes be found on the church banquet table.
What is a Fruit Cocktail Cake?
The 1950s were a time of new-aged ready-made food. Americans were wealthy, there were thousands of new food products, and women were stepping away from their full-time jobs in the family home. Because of this, women turned to cake recipes using box cake mixes, salads with canned ingredients, and frozen meals. No longer did women have to spend the entire day preparing dinner for guests or the church luncheon.
One of the recipes which popped up was the easy fruit cocktail cake. Made with a can of fruit cocktail, pecans, and brown sugar, this original recipe was a fun and easy cake to bring to any and every gathering.
Celebrating Appalachia Food Blogger Shows How To Make Fruit Cocktail Cake
Tipper shares in the video that she learned this recipe from a cook in Oklahoma, noting that while the recipe doesn't contain traditional Appalachian ingredients, it is part of the Appalachian foodways.
A lot of the recipes online use a cake mix, however, Tipper makes her super moist cake recipe with sugar, large eggs, flour, baking soda, and fruit cocktail. The yummy topping contains sugar, butter, vanilla extract, evaporated milk, pecans, and coconut.
Preheat your oven to 325F. You do not have to grease the baking pan with cooking spray for this fruit cocktail cake recipe.
The recipe is simple and easy to follow. In a large bowl prepare the cake batter by creaming the butter (at room temperature) with the sugar. Next, add the rest of the cake ingredients (flour, baking soda, and reserved fruit cocktail liquid) and fold in the fruit cocktail.
Tip: Make sure you get the fruit cocktail with juice and not heavy syrup.
Place the batter in the baking dish and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick poked comes out clean.
Prepare the topping by mixing the topping ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook and boil for 5 minutes. Add the topping to the cake and wait two hours for the topping to soak into the cake.
Tender, moist, and bursting with flavor, you've gotta try this fruit cocktail cake for yourself.
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