Pineapple, Lemon, Raspberry, Surprise Cake

I received a surprise from my beautiful niece Julie who lives in Texas. She sent me a thank you bouquet of flowers. Since it remains cold in Cleveland, Ohio, and we might have a few lingering snow flurries, the flowers are a most welcome sign of "life" after winter.

The flowers look gorgeous on the table. I doubt if Julie knew that we had our 46th wedding anniversary a week ago, but we did not have a cake. The colors of the flowers in this beautiful bouquet are the inspiration for this pineapple, lemon, raspberry, surprise angel food cake!

But the question is why did I add the word "surprise" in the name of this Pineapple, Lemon, Raspberry "Surprise" cake?

One can see the raspberries on the outside of the cake and if one cuts into the cake, there is a layer of fluffy frosting with a few raspberries as a "surprise." I had cut into, but not through the unfrosted, cooled cake and placed some frosting and a raspberry surprise in what I determined would be a generous piece of angel food cake. I did not cut completely through the cake, I went around the outside of the cake with a knife, without cutting the cake completely into two layers as this particular angel food cake is very delicate and crumbly.

The cake was made with a box of angel food cake mix, but crushed pineapple was added in lieu of the 1 1/4 cups water indicated in the directions for preparing the cake. In addition, because I love the aroma of lemon, I added 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the cake and to the frosting.

The frosting is Betty Crocker Fluffy Frosting, which contains no fat. Since I had a large can of crushed pineapple, I had pineapple left from making the cake batter, which only required the 1 1/4 cups.

The Betty Crocker Fluffy Frosting mix is to be mixed with 1/2 cup boiling water. Instead of water I used 3 tablespoons of lemon juice plus some of the remaining crushed pineapple to bring the liquid portion to 1/2 cup and heated it to boiling in the microwave.

I beat the frosting for the required 30 seconds on low and 5-7 minutes on high, and stiff peaks formed at about 6 minutes. It was amazing that the frosting turned from a bit of yellow from the pineapple to almost a pure white.

I frosted the cake quickly as want this cake to look like a fresh, homemade cake, it need not be perfect and the frosting is delicious!

My husband suggested I turn this into a pina colada angel food cake by adding coconut to the frosted cake, but I may try this another time!

Wish I could share this wonderful and very easy-to-make, tasty angel food cake with my Texas family!
I wish I could drop it off at their door!

Please note: any crushed fruit plus liquid can be added to the batter of an angel food cake in lieu of the water indicated in the directions. When my nephew said his favorite cake was "strawberry," I substituted fresh strawberry puree in the cake. I had made the strawberry puree from fresh berries in my blender and the baked cake retained a light pink color.

If my niece has room in her new garden, I can imagine planting a real lemon tree in the backyard!

Love to Julie for inspiring me to bake a cake today for my upcoming cookbook! How I wish I could send a piece over to my great-niece, Emma Louise! I will be working on creating the healthiest cupcakes for Emma, a true cupcake lover.

You can bet that Emma's cupcakes will always have a "surprise" inside!

Beautiful Happy Birthday Flowers to Adorn the Monster Cake

If you have baked a "monster" cake for your birthday, don't judge the cake by its external looks!

Just as we don't judge a book by its cover, don't judge your monster cake until you have taken a bite!

The "monster" cake is delicious. I will include the recipe in another post, but look at the flowers which appeared at my front door this morning in Cleveland (which seems to be like living in the North Pole this winter)!

The colors of the roses include my mother's favorite, the peach colored ones, which remind me of "tea roses." The roses are beautiful and decorate the table. I had the table adorned by my mother's life-like daffodils, in a vase I had once made for her covered with her favorite flowers, Margarites.

No wonder my dear Mom named one of her daughters, Margaret Ann, after her favorite flower and her most beloved Aunt Margaret.

The cake looks and tastes better surrounded by the flowers Margaret Ann sent to my house this morning; flowers appeared with a knock on my front door, after I cut a slice of the cake and was on the phone ordering medication. My husband has a regular dentist appointment today! Does everyone go to their dentist on their spouse's birthday? If the roads are clear (heard there was black ice out this morning) we will make it to his appointment -- if he can not eat pumpkin bread or cake per dental work, at least he can enjoy Margaret Ann's flowers!

Below is a slice of the wonderful cake, it is not too sweet. I like cakes made in the German tradition, and this marble cake tastes like a German one, hardly sweet, but has a wonderful texture, but I think I will put a bit more sugar in it the next time I make it. If my Mom were here to share this birthday with me, and how I wish she were here, we would be whipping up homemade whipping cream to add to this wonderful cake -- I might add a few fresh strawberries in her memory.

Mommy, can you see the cake and smell the roses? I know you can wherever you might be!

The pumpkin bread looks better with the flowers too, it makes the raisins look wonderful!

Love to Mommy from your daughters, grandchildren and great-granddaughter! I know you had the hardest time giving birth to me, and I know I owe you my life!