Pina Colada Cake

After the boys had my Black Bean Bagel Sandwiches, I also provided them with dessert! It's hard to find an actually healthy, good tasting dessert that isn't fruit and yogurt. And that's not really dessert is it? NO! So I hunted around for a decently easy and quite tasty one..and then I found it....PINA COLADA CAKE! Whoa...you mean a pina colada turned into a cake? SIGN ME UP!!!! So I wrote down the recipe, and ran to the store. It took me 2 dishes (1 to cook, 1 to bake), and 1 mixing spoon to make it. Oh yeah, and like 25 min from start to pulling out of the oven. So here goes....

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Pina Colada Cake

Ingredients:
- 1 package (14 1/2 oz) angel food cake mix
- 1 can (20 oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple
- 8 oz fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed
- 1/2 cup (2 oz) toasted coconut

Directions:
- Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In large bowl, stir together cake mix and pineapple. Pour into prepared baking dish.
- Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely on a rack.
- Spread whipped topping over cake. Sprinkle with coconut. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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<---We already ate some before I remembered to snap a pic.









<--- Look how light and fluffy it is!






I kept the coconut sprinkles off of it because the guys aren't fans of coconut. But I put some on mine and I loved it! It's easiest the most simple cake I have EVER made! So if you are inviting me to some kind of potluck in the near future - this is probably what I'll be bringing. I brought in a piece to a co-worker (who doesn't even like pineapple) and she loved it! This one is DEF going into my box of keepers - and probably will be my dessert of choice when I get back into hardcore marathon training. After all - it IS healthy (I even used low-fat cool whip!) and will still calm my perma-sweet tooth.

Enjoy! - apes -

Fudge Pudding Cake

So I was perusing (I'm hoping that's correct verbiage) the Internet and stumbled upon the below recipe.

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Easy Fudge Pudding Cake

Ingredients:
Cake:

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 2 tablespoons cocoa

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 3/4 cup granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup milk

- 2 tablespoons melted shortening

- 1/2 cup chopped pecans

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1/3 cup cocoa

- 1 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Sift flour with dry ingredients
2. Stir in milk and shortening. Then add pecans and vanilla.
3. Mix until well combined then pour into a generously greased 8 x 8-inch square pan.
4. Combine sauce ingredients; pour over cake batter.
5. Bake the cake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 40 minutes. Set on a rack to cool slightly (do not remove the cake from the pan). The fudgey, gooey, delicious sauce will end up on the bottom of the pan.
6. Cut (or just dig in with a fork) and serve hot or cold.

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My first thought "this looks easy." My second thought "who can I make this for?" Silly Apes, I can make it for MYSELF!!! So I looked at the ingredients and realized I had everything but the pecans and shortening. I stopped at the store on the way home and took care of that problem, and then it was time to bake!

So I got home and re-looked at the recipe. When a recipe calls for lots of ingredients, I get a little nervous that I'll miss something and I read it about 4 times over, BEFORE I do the first step. Even though this one had a lot of ingredients, it was still super easy.

Once it was in the oven, I happened to get a call from my friend Kevin wanting to hang out. So I told him I was baking, and he should just come over and eat the cake with me. I really twisted his arm on that one.

After the cake was done (check out the gooey goodness above) and it was cooled off - we sat down in front of the pan equipped with full glasses of milk and a fork for each of us. That cake didn't stand a chance! We got through half of it (could have done more damage but my roommate gave us ice-cream to go with it halfway through our devouring).

So try it out - it's easy and TASTY!

Enjoy! - apes -