I am not sure what is going on right now with my blog, but I am going to try and ignore it. The picture looks super small, and I can’t figure out why. Well, at least it is not an ordinary Sunday night – and tomorrow, I can try and get to the bottom of this. I have no idea how this blog post will look when publishing, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

I am big on short cuts, but not big on using prepared foods – and that includes boxed cake mixes. Although there are certain times when it actually does make sense. I have to admit, I love a good boxed cake every once in a while – but it doesn’t belong on my blog…that is until now. The other week I had signed up to bring a dessert to book group. I didn’t have a ton of time that day, and remembered this recipe that people on our food alias at work were talking about. Someone was looking for a dessert to bring to a Hawaiian themed party – and this is what people recommended. It came from the website Yummly, and it looked super simple, yet fed a crowd. Even though I was not going to a Hawaiian themed party, I needed something simple that fed a lot of people.

I had no intention of putting this on the blog – with a boxed cake and vanilla pudding, it was not really something I figured would be blog worthy. Wrong. My friends loved the cake – and I did as well. It was creamy on the top, with a nice layer of cake that almost seemed like a soft crust – they all thought I was crazy not to post the recipe. So here we are – and hopefully you won’t give up on me – but we all need a break from time to time, and this was certainly a delicious one. Here’s to simplicity, feeding many…and Hawaii.

Ingredients

1 package yellow cake mix (regular size)
3 packages (3.4 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding mix
4 cups cold milk
1-1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, well drained
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped and sweetened
2 cups flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

Mix cake batter according to package directions. Pour into two 9×13 in. baking pans. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until the cakes test done. Cool completely. In a large bowl, combine pudding mixes, milk and coconut extract; beat for 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat well. Stir in pineapple. Spread over the cooled cakes. Top with whipped cream; sprinkle with coconut. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Yield: 24 servings.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Hawaiian Dessert