This Cake Will Sweep You Off Your Feet!
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It really is a simple recipe, too. Mix up the five-ingredient batter, dump it, put the brown sugar and nuts over that, and bake at 325 F for 40 minutes. Then you spread on the icing, which itself takes mere minutes to cook, while everything is still hot. It’s an easy and low-budget option, but it certainly doesn’t taste like it! And if you’re worried about your calorie intake, you could always make the cake without the icing. I promise you, this is absolutely delightful even without it!
Last year my youngest son requested this cake for his birthday. I know, right? Sounds a little plain for a birthday cake! But that wasn’t the case at all. I made two layers, with creamy frosting in between, and the icing on top. It was dee-licious!
Ingredients
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups Gold Medal UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups fruit cocktail with syrup (16-oz. can)
2 tsp. baking soda
¼ cup brown sugar
For the icing:
1 stick butter (I used Land O’Lakes, because I already had some on hand, but use what you like–don’t need anything too fancy.)
1 cup coconut
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
Instructions:
CAKE:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.
Mix all ingredients, except brown sugar and nuts, in a bowl.
Pour batter into the pan.
Combine brown sugar and nuts; sprinkle over batter.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Spread icing on cake while hot.
BOILED COCONUT ICING:
Combine icing ingredients in saucepan and boil for 2 minutes.
Spoon over cake while hot.
Let cool; cut into squares.
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Quick tip: Make a double batch and share with friends – you’ll be their favorite person in the whole world!
Thanks to Can’t Stay Out of The Kitchen for this delicious cake recipe.
118 Comments
Thanks for sharing my recipe!
I have a recipe very similar to this, and to change it up a bit, I have used only one cup of the fruit cocktail, and one cup of crushed pineapple with juice. It makes a little change in taste, otherwise, it is the same. I always called I Fruit Cockt as I’ll Cake. I raised my children on this cake and the old fashioned mayo cake. Also, warm gingerbread with lemon sauce..I could fix all of these either on my lunch hour or after 8I got home from work.
I also have a similar recipie for this cake.
Going to try your ” change up” sure would like your Lemon Sauce recipie though…
my mama always made a lemon sauce to go over warm spice cake whem we would get home from school but never could get her to write down the recipe.
I’m lazy, so I microwave a small jar of lemon curd for a couple minutes, stir til smooth and spoon over warm gingerbread which I also cheat and use a boxed mix.
Would love a hood old fashioned spice cake recipe!
Can I please get the warm gingerbread recipe with lemon sauce….my mom use to make this
What is Mayo cake?
my mama use to make mayonaise cake all the time and aspice cake yummy
The Mayonnaise Cake I grew up with (and still make) is a moist chocolate cake. It’s usually better the second day. I usually don’t even frost it, but will eat plain, with powdered sugar sprinkled on top, or a dollop of whipped cream! http://www.hellmanns.com/recipes/detail/35904/1/chocolate-mayonnaise-cake
The old Mayonnaise Cake. I love it and have made it many times and received wonderful compliments.
Would love your gingerbread and lemon sauce recipe
Warm gingerbread with lemon sauce….I thought I was the only person who ate this…no one else I know has ever had it. So good this time of year!
Want the easiest cake you will ever make which is low in fat. cake mix and crushed pineapple mix and bake. serve with a dollop of cool whip. great dessert.
Only add crushed pineapple? None of the rest of the ingredients you usually add to cake mix? Also how mush of the pineapple?
20oz. can crushed pineapple in it;s own juice! Thats; it Great cake
The recipe I use is on 14 oz (398 ml) of crushed pineapple or tidebits, juice and all. Put in 9 x 14 inch cake pan. Sprinkle i package of pecan cake mix over top (smooth with spoon). Drizzle with 1/3 cup melted margarine. Bake in 350’F oven for 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Nope – that’s it. Use a big bowl to mix, it will fluff up! This is a favorite at our house. I make real whipped cream, though. Cool Whip is horrible stuff
Use a BIG bowl to mix this! It foams up!
Do you add anything else to the cake mix besides the crushed pineapple? What size can?
14 0z? The regular size can in the fruit section
May I have this recipe, please? Sounds so good!
You need to specify angel food cake mix, and 20oz crushed pineapple.
I’ve made this, using an angel food cake mix and you’re absolutely right…it was delicious. Would have never thought using only these two ingredients would make something this good,
I tasted this at my sister’s house and loved it. Then I tried it and it flopped. What the??????
Many versions of this on Pinterest. All yummy and loads of ideas for substitutions for those with allergies to one thing or another.
I have a recipe IDENTICAL to this one and have been using it for years!
I love recipes that have been handed down. Very special.
I want it!!!
Can I have this recipe…Thanks
My grandmother and mother have been making this for years but not with mixed fruit, this is peach cake, they use a large can of peaches and the juice.
My mother used to make this back in the 50’s. We called it Fruit Cocktail Cake. Always a big hit!!
Can you leave out the coconut?
Thank you for sharing. I will try this out esp during christmas and new year or birthday events..
YOUR recipe? I have been making this cake since1962. I’d say this was someone else’s recipe. I don’t even know where I got it but it wasn’t in a cook book, nor Facebook, which wasn’t around then, needless to say. It is a very good, gooey cake and the recipe is called Fruit Cocktail Cake.
Size pan please and thank you.
You want to use a 9″ x 13″ baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray (e.g., Pam) to minimize sticking.
Is there anything you could substitute for the coconut in the icing, my family doesn’t like coconut
I wracked my brain and was having trouble coming up with much. Given that this is a dessert, you want a substitute that is fairly sweet, obviously. I’m not certain how it would work, but you could maybe try shredding a sweet apple and using that in lieu of coconut? That would yield a similar texture and sweetness without the coconut flavor.
How would a cream cheese icing work on it?
Cream cheese frosting works well. I’ve always known this cake as a “Birdie Cake”.
Be careful, you might get additional liquid from the apple, no?
Why are you guys trying to change a recipe when all of the ingredients work! If your family doesn’t like coconut then don’t make the cake. Altering or substituting something else for coconut completely changes the chemistry of ingredients. It is like a prescription… I am a baker’s daughter so trust me on this… the coconut adds a sweetness and texture to the icing… you could leave it out totally and just have the icing by itself or sprinkle powdered sugar all over top. This will be more subtle than substituting something for coconut.
And you are so right. My honey loves my adventures in the kitchen. Cooking and baking is just like chemistry. A exact science. My husband, he’s a scientist with a PhD in chemistry, often mentions this when he watches me measure and weight the ingredients. Very carefully to. They say scientists make the best cooks and bakers and I can promise you that this is true.
What about shredded carrots?
shredded carrots or zucchini have no sweetness like coconut… leave it plain … I personally would make the cake as it is, and ask the family to keep an open mind tasting it. Maybe they will change their mind. 🙂
Calm down Janice. If they want to substitute zucchini for the coconut let them….we will just smile smugly as we eat our cake because we both know the recipe for warm lemon sauce.
omit coconut and just use nuts
Try carrots or zucchini as a substitute
How about well drained Mandarin Oranges mixed into a container of Cool Whip? Yummy
just don’t put coconut in it, it will be fine. Put some more nuts in if you need more…
Just leave the coconut out.
what can u use in place of nuts, I have a friend who is allergic to nuts, but this is a great dessert to take to my Bible Study.
try crunched up pretzels in place of the nuts. i have a daughter with serious allergies & she absolutely LOVES the “mock pecan pie” i make for her using broken pretzel sticks. (the little ones)
Recipe for “pecan” pretzel pie? Pretty please???
Thank you so much for the pretzel idea!!!
I have baked this cake for years and you can just leave the nuts out
I am pretty sure this is athe cake my Grandmother made when I was a KID…OH MY GOODNESS! DELICIOUS!!
we call that a Granny Cake here. been making them for years.
Try using granola instead of nuts !!!
how do I print these recipes
The recipe is all the way at the bottom of the page above.
Is the icing cooked before being put on the cake? After you put the icing on the cake do you bake it anymore?
It sounds wonderful I am going to try it for pot luck. Thanks
Boil the butter, condensed milk sugar together. I add the coconut and nuts to the icing then pour over the cake. I poke holes with a fork all over do the icing seeps into the cake. We just call it fruit cocktail cake. It’s yummy.
The recipe calls for evaporated milk
My grandmother gave me this recipe years ago. We all love it. It is so tasty.
Can I use just pineapples ?
You mentioned cooking the icing but didn’t say how long?
My mom made this cake in the 70s. It is super moist and super delicious! It was called Fruit Cocktail Cake then, before people came up with creative new names for old recipes.
We call this the “Ugly Duckling” Cake!
I got this recipe when I was in middle school, the first year I had home economics…that would have been the early 1960’s…I love this cake…
I have this recipe from my great aunt. We just call it the fruit cocktail cake. It’s delicious.
Thanks for this recipe. Gonna try it.
i HAVE THIS RECIPE….ONLY IT’S CALLED “UGLY DUCKLING CAKE”….IT CAME IN A BAKER’S COCONUT RECIPE PAMPHLET…..HAVE HAD IT FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS!!! i’VE MADE IT SEVERAL TIMES…IT’S VERY GOOD!!
Do you cook the icing or do you mean it cooks on the hot cake?
We called this fruit cocktail cake. I have made it with and without nuts. We poke holes in the cake and drizzle the glaze over it. I have also left out the coconut and just added nuts to the glaze.
How long to you cook the icing?
We never frost ours. It tastes great served warm with whipped cream or all by itself!
I have made this and love it. We called Chop Suey cake
Do you have a printer friendly copy of this recipe?
http://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2013/09/06/texas-tornado-cake/
SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND YOU WILL FIND A PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION!
My ex-mother-in-law used to make this cake and it was always a hit and I have been searching for this recipe in excess of 20 years. Thank you for sharing and absolutely can not wait to make it.
want my sister to make this
I make this, but it’s known as ‘Ugly Duckling Cake’ at our house. It’s delicious!
sounds great, just take the foot add from the directions. Lol.
Do you bake it more after putting frosting on?
OMG! I made this cake over 35 yrs’ ago , Everyone just loved it . Since I am now diabetic I no longer fix it. Beverly Pettis
I love this cake too. The nice thing is you can change it up. Instead of fruit cocktail, you can use canned peaches, pears, pineapple, apricots, or even apple sauce. YUM!!1
Do you bring the frosting ingredients to a boil or just melt butter and add other ingredients?
Sorry, I didn’t go far enough. Found the instructions.
On a sweet potato casserole, I use oats, brown sugar, butter mixture on top as my son cannot tolerate nuts. He loved it. Just guessed at the ingredients.
I made this cake and it was delicious, very moist, and tasty. The only problem was after it cooled, the bottom was soggy from the syrup in the fruit cocktail. Very disappointed. Did anyone else have this problem?
Try using fruit cocktail that is packed in juice instead of syrup, that works well with all canned fruit.
I don’t like fruit cocktail, what else can you use
use to make this all the time…was called Ugly Duckling Cake…If it is too soggy it is because we only used one can of fruit cocktail and drained it and used pineapple…we used the reserve jiuce in the frosting…and we used a whole can of evap milk in the dressing….
When I lived in Texas 25 years ago we called this a Fruit Cocktail Cake, and inevitably it showed up at every Church Potluck
It’s been more than 25 years ago when I first ate it. . . . more than 50 years for me. Yep, getting on up there age. LOL!!!!
Looks like a delicious Cake.
My mother made this cake when I was a girl at home. It was called Fruit Cocktail cake back then and still goes by that name in South Texas. It is a delicious cake! Yummy!!! Haven’t had it in ages.
I make a cake very similar to this one, it is called a Swedish cake, very delicious.
I made the Texas Tornado Cake. It was gone so fast my family asked when I was going to make it again. So very moist. I used the unbleached flour that you recommended Now I won’t use white flour in any homemade cakes.
Thank you.
Bonnie Deyo
Made this cake yesterday, 05/08/16, for Mother’s Day! Was a big hit! Will definitely make it again!
Your recipe is Devine! I remember this from years past, I’m so glad you resurrected it! Thank you❤️
My great grandmother made this cake I was about 9 or 10 years old, which was 55 years ago. It was called Fruit Cocktail Cake. Great memory. I plan on making it.
I just made this cake, and it was a huge hit, sharing the recipe.. so so good.
What does a “stick of butter” equate in Canadian measurements? Is it the same as a cup of butter?
Thank you,
Janice
greatttt
I’ve been eating this cake since I was a little girl. My Mother always made it at Christmas. It’s our families favorite. I’m now 84 and can’t remember when I didn’t have this cake. So I do know it’s been around for many many years. At least 75 years for me.
Have enjoyed this recipe many years like a lot of the people commenting here. Has been a family favorite from the first time my mother made it. So glad to have found this! I will be printing it up so my daughter & daughter in law can add this to their recipe books!
Made this for Christmas Family doesn’t like coconut so I just made a brown sugar and butter glaze and pou
red it on the top. I put the nuts in the cake instead of on the top. It was great and everyone loved it.
I use to make this recipe 25+ yrs ago. So glad I found it but don’t see how to copy the recipe. Could you email it to me?
Glad I found you there are some good recipes here.
Thanks
Kathleen
I don’t like the idea of coping a recipe and getting all the reviews. It waste Paper and Ink. I can read the reviews from the computer I don’t want them printed!!!
You don’t have to print all of the reviews. Your printer should give you an option screen that asks you which sections you’d like to print. Have a great day, Helen!
Would love to have the recipe PLEASE. SAID IT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE. NOT. THANK YOU,ALL
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe of yours. Will be making one during christmas , new years or even during birthday events.
Thank you, Evita!
Which nuts y’all use it with?? Dying to try it!
hi which nuts you used it with? thank you