Pistachio Pineapple Cake

My hubby loves pistachio pudding.  I love pistachio salad (you know the one . . .green and fluffy . .. I don't think I have the recipe on here though).  Any how, I married the two and made it into a cake:  white cake, pistachio pudding mix, pineapple and coconut.  I know, I know . . .I have a coconut obsession.  If you don't like coconut, omit it from the recipe.  But don't let that hinder you from making this crazy delicious and moist cake!

Pistachio Pineapple Cake

Ingredients:

1 Box White Cake Mix (16.5 oz Box)

3 Eggs

1 Cup Ginger Ale

3/4 Cup Vegetable or Canola Oil

1 (20-oz) Can Crushed Pineapple, Drained Well

1 Box Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix (3.4 oz Box)

1 Cup Coconut Flakes

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 9x13 cake pan and set aside.

Step 2:  In a large bowl, add your dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, the eggs, ginger ale and oil.  Mix well for 2 minutes on medium with an electric mixer.  Fold in the pineapple and coconut.

Step 3:  Pour batter into cake pan and place in preheated oven.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting the cake.  

Step 4:  Top with Pistachio-Cool Whip Frosting (recipe below)

Pistachio-Cool Whip Frosting:

1 Box Instant Pistachio Pudding Mix (3.4 oz Box)

1 Small Tub Cool Whip (8 oz)

1 Cup Coconut

Mix all above ingredients together.  Let sit in the fridge for 1/2 hour before frosting the cake so that the flavors blend.  

Store Frosted Cake in the Refrigerator!

Healthier Sweet and Sour Chicken

Chinese / Asian food is by far my most favorite gendre of food.  However, I really don't care for the sweet, gooey pink sauce that is so commonly used for sweet and sour dishes.  Truth be told, what's in that sauce??  This recipe rids itself of that sauce and is packed full of veggies and pineapple.  Then, it's simmered down and the sauce forms itself.  And it tastes amazing.

Healthier Sweet and Sour Chicken

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb Chicken Breast, diced into bite size pieces

2 TB Vegetable Oil

1 Green Bell Pepper, washed and sliced

2 Bunches of Green Onions, washed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 and 1/2 Cups Pineapple Tidbits, drained

1/2 Cup Apricot Jam

5 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 Three-Inch Piece of Ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks

3 Tablespoons White Vinegar

1/4 Teaspoon Sriracha Sauce (optional)

Salt

Step 1:  Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat with oil.  Once shimmering, add the chicken and season with salt.  Cook for 5 minutes until beginning to brown.

Step 2:  Add the green bell pepper, green onions, pineapple, apricot jam, sriracha, garlic and ginger.  Continue to cook until  chicken is cooked through, approximately 3-4 minutes.

Step 3:  Add the vinegar and stir to coat.

Serve with rice and enjoy!

Pineapple Cucumber Salad

The other day I was going thru an old stack of magazines with all intentions of purging them.  While doing so, I came across this recipe from Everyday Food (which is now a defunct magazine . . just in case that gives you indication on how old of a stack this was).  I just so happened to have fresh-from-the-garden cucumbers on-hand and I thought this salad would be perfect with dinner.   It did not disappoint!  I adapted it slightly to what I had on hand.  Give it a try - my family loved it!

Pineapple Cucumber Salad

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cucumber, diced and seeeded

(1) 20 oz Can Pineapple Chunks, drained

1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped

1.5 Tablespoons Lime Juice

In a bowl, combine the above ingredients.  Season with salt and pepper.

Super simps, refreshing and yummy!

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake

First things first:  I love holiday meals desserts.  I always find myself planning out the dessert first . . .and then the meal afterwards.  And truth be told, it was my hubby who found this luscious recipe from Dole. He was perusing the Sunday paper circulars and in the coupon section - there it was.  A coupon, a recipe, and a fabulous picture . . .

And yes, the above picture is from the Dole website.  I would have totally taken a picture of the one I made, but my camera is on the fritz.  I think that it's time to buy a new camera (any recommendations?!?)  BUT - the recipe did truly turn out like the photo above.  I was skeptical at first . . really, are the layers going to look that great?  And yes, they really did.  

Man, now that I am blogging about this, I really could go for a piece of this cake.  Except, it's all gone.  :(  It was that good . . .it disappeared quickly.  

And now for the actual recipe (as printed by Dole):

Pineapple & Cream Cheese Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup (Unsalted) Butter, melted

1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 Can (20 oz) of Dole Pineapple Slices, drained

7 or 8 Maraschino Cherries (stems removed)

1 pkg (9 oz) Yellow Cake - plus the ingredients to prepare it

2 pkgs (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg (3 oz) JELL-O Brand Lemon-Flavored Gelatin

2 Eggs

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan with nonstick cooking spray.  If using a spring form pan, wrap foil around the bottom.

Step 2:  Stir together melted butter and brown sugar in pan.   Place 7 or 8 pineapple slices in sugar mixture.  Place cherry in center of each pineapple slice; cut remaining 2 slices of pineapple in half and place decoratively around slice in center of the pan.

Step 3:  Prepare cake mix according to the package directions (if using cake mix larger than 9 oz., a 10 or 12-inch pan is recommended).  Pour half cake batter evenly over pineapple.  Beat cream cheese, lemon gelatin and eggs in bowl of an electric mixer until smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture gently over cake mix.  Pour remaining cake mix over cheese cake in pan.

Step 4:  Bake 65 to 75 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Step 5:  Cool 5 minutes.  Loosen edges and turn out onto serving platter.

Reflections:  I made this recipe exactly as it states above.  Reflecting back, there are a few things I would suggest doing differently:

* Prepare your cake batters first and then set them aside.  After that, proceed with the brown sugar/butter and pineapple step.In the time it took me to make the yellow cake batter, spread 1/2 in the pan and then prepare the cheesecake batter etc etc - my brown sugar/butter started to leak out of the pan.  I was a little disappointed in losing some of that caramelly goodness!  

* The recipe says to "cut remaining 2 slices of pineapple in half and place decoratively around slice in center of the pan".  With my spring-form pan, there was no extra space - so I didn't do that.  However, in hindsight, I realize that the pineapple shrinks up a bit  when baking.  So, if you can wedge those pieces in there - you won't regret it!

* I know my oven temp is off by about 3-5 degrees.  And my spring-form pan is dark-coated, but it took me almost 90 minutes to bake this cake.  Granted, it was well worth the wait!  Be sure to plan-in that extra time (don't be thinking this will be baked in 65 minutes and then run off to pick up the kiddo from hockey).  Be sure to "toothpick" check the doneness and keep baking as needed.

* Experiments to Try:  as my husband oooooooh'd and awwwwwwww'd eating this wonderful leftover cake on Easter Monday, we had a few thoughts.  That's us - always thinking of the next cake :)  

What if you . . .

- replaced the water in the cake mix ingredients with the pineapple juice

- Somehow added coconut to this recipe.  We are at a controversy here:  hubby says that using coconut extract in the cream cheese batter would be best.  I think that adding unsweetened, shredded coconut into the yellow cake batter would be awesome.   Or, could you somehow use coconut milk in the recipe?  There is definitely room for experimentation here! 

- And then, what if we experimented with different flavors altogether different?  Could this method be used for other cake combinations?  I was pondering the possibilities this week when I wandered over to Jo and Sue's blog - only to find they did a Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting.   I wonder if this method combined with that carrot cake would work?  Oh the possibilities!