Have you read Water for Elephants? (The book is a good read.) I read it in two days, even with all I had to do. It takes weeks to carry out all of the stuff needed to present a good party, and it seems, weeks to get it all taken care of and back in place. I start putting things away and think, oh, that needs cleaned or straightened or organized and I am off...off schedule, off task, and OUT OF MY MIND! Why do I do these big parties? But then I look at the pictures and the nice notes of thanks and I settle down. After all, I have all the time in the world to get things right.
The hit of every party, as far as the food is concerned, is the Hawaiian cake, or Glenda's cake as I call it. Even the servers ask for slices to take home. Thirty or so dishes and they ask for a slice of cake, even though they are allowed to munch all the time at the party too. They are here about eight hours and everything is washed up, but not put away because after all, who knows where it goes? Me. So, it's been a week and I am taking my time and soon it will be put away and ready to drag out again for the next event. Both refrigerators were packed with left overs. I could have hosted another party the next night, and have done on certain occasions. This time I worked at giving it away to energetic eaters. Once I spend all of that time cooking, I am not eager to see the food again and again...and again.
I am sure I gave you the recipe for the Hawaiian cake around this same time last year for Alyssa's graduation party. But I can't find it in the string of blogs to the right of the screen, so to make sure, I am giving it again in several forms. It can be done as a punch bowl cake too and since I have adorable shortcake dishes, I am going to put the cake in individual glass bowls layered just the way it is in a baking dish. (Who has dishes especially for strawberry shortcake...a collector, of course.) So here are a variety of recipes to try, all with the same basic ingredients. The cake is cooling, refreshing and addictive. (I am not a snob, I use cake mixes with great gusto. I like them!)
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
Prepare and bake cake mix according to package directions for one 9x13 inch cake. Remove cake from oven. While cake is hot, poke holes through the cake with the round handle of a wooden spoon. Holes should be at 1 inch intervals. Pour crushed pineapple and juice over the cake. Let cool slightly.
In a small bowl, beat the instant pudding with milk until mixture begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Stir in the frozen whipped topping, then spread over the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Punch Bowl Cake
(It's like a trifle when used in a punch bowl or individual strawberry shortcake stemmed bowls.)
Ingredients
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
Directions
Prepare the cake mix as directed by the manufacturer. Bake in a 9x13 inch pan, or two 8 inch round pans. When the cake is cool, split in half, horizontally. Prepare the vanilla pudding according to package directions.
Crumble half of the cake into the bottom of the punch bowl. Then put a layer of 1/3 of the whipped topping, a layer of 1/2 of the pudding, then a layer of 1/2 the can of pineapple. Repeat the layers in the same amounts, and top with the remaining whipped topping. Keep refrigerated until serving.
