1946 - 1962 Cake #5

Fruit Cocktail Cake

The baby boomer generation is very familiar with this cake. It was served at many a large function and even at camps. Del Monte first created fruit cocktail, which is a mix of peaches, pineapples, pears, grapes, and sometimes red cherries, in order to use the leftover bits of fruit from processing. It is believed that the name "fruit cocktail" came from Mrs Rorer's New Cookbook of 1902. It was a combination of fruit, sugar and alcohol that was served at luncheons or brunches. The canned product omitted the alcohol but kept the catchy name. In the 1950's, people started adding it to their cake batter, and in 1955 there was an article in the Chicago Daily Herald that touted the Fruit Cocktail Cake as a perfect for hot weather dessert because it was easy to make and it is light because it contains no shortening.

My Experience:

This cake has two parts to it, but thankfully, they are both very simple. The cake part requires throwing everything into a mixing bowl and letting it go until all blended. While the cake is baking; milk, sugar, vanilla, butter, coconut, and nuts are put in a saucepan and heated to a boil, then brought down to a simmer for a few minutes. When the hot cake comes out of the oven, the still warm sauce is poured on top.

I enjoyed making this cake. It was pleasantly simple and there were a number of delicious smells that hit my nose throughout the process. The cake was moist due to the fruit cocktail and the topping was very sweet with a bit of crunch. As you will see from their comments, the neighbors liked it too!

Neighbor's Comments:

"Oh snap! This is delicious! The topping= so much sugar...my favorite!"

"Pretty good. I'm not a coconut fan, but I like this."

"This is one of my favorite cakes and I don't normally like fruitcake anything."