We all need revival every now and again, whether it be physical, mental, or spiritual. I think Big Red Kitchen needs a revival, she’s been a bit back-slidden of late. So I thought a revival would boost the kitchen soul. Kind of like a good old-fashioned Southern Baptist Tent Revival minus the long hell-fire sermons, women fanning themselves, and the occasional blurt of “Amen” and “Preach on Brother.” All eyes were on the Southern lady dessert parade.So to revive BRK, I am offering a week’s worth of delicious dessert dishes I remember enjoying as a young girl attending tons of church potlucks where the ladies set up tables inside the church basement laden with generous offerings of their labors. Pies, cakes, cookies, bars, brownies, and puddings. The men and children not missing what was carted in from car to church, always offered to hold the door, carry a dish, or set up chairs in hopes to spy the visual ambrosia of sweets. All eyes were on the Southern lady dessert parade. Most of the time I couldn’t hardly concentrate on the sermon as I was plotting which dessert I would choose- Miss Doris’ Banana Pudding, Miss Susan’s Pineapple Sheet Cake, Miss Jean’s Peach Cobbler, Miss Mary’s Velvet Almond Fudge Cake, or Miss Valerie’s Drippy Cake- I even prayed the preacher would hurry it up, cuz dessert was awaitn’.
Miss Susan’s Pineapple Sheet Cake
2 cups AP flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
20 ounce can (about 2 cups) crushed pineapple, in juice, don’t drain
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts- I left out due to allergies
Mix all together until smooth. Pour into greased 9×13 inch baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. PLEASE SEE UPDATE BELOW!
Icing
8 ounces cream cheese
4 T. butter
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts- optional
Beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add Vanilla. Slowly add sugar and blend after each addition. Fold in nuts if desired. Ice cake while still a bit warm. Serves many as this cake is rich and sweet, so cut the pieces small as you can always have seconds.
UPDATE: 5/28/2012-
Some folks have commented that this cake has given them trouble, so I quickly made another and here are some tips that may help…
1. For high altitude baking help, go to highaltitudebaking.com.
2. I did mix all the ingredients together at once on medium speed for about 45 seconds. I used PAM on the dish.
3. Clear glass 9x 13 inch baking dishes, try lowering the heat to 325 and bake for 25 minutes- some have even reported up to 40 minutes in a clear glass dish- remember oven temps can greatly differ. Metal pans (which I used the first time) handled the 350 for 25 minutes- but I think clear glass is the best choice for this cake. Dark glass takes even longer than clear glass, so try 325 for a few minutes longer.
4. The texture of this cake has a coarse sticky sponge-like crumb. It is very rustic and may remind one of a less dense fruit cake. It is very different than any other cake texture I have tried. Even lovely without the icing and served warm with vanilla ice cream!
5. Please add the nuts if you can, I can’t- allergies. Also some said they added cinnamon or coconut too, give that a try, be creative. Some even made these into cupcakes!
6. If you have any questions, read through the comments first, I may have answered it already!
I feel terrible when folks say a recipe did not work out for them. I do my best to give the best instructions. Thank you all for your honest reviews and being kind with your critiques! This is a really nice cake, so give it a try with my updated tips. I hope this helps.
Ya’ll come back all week as Big Red Kitchen highlights a new dessert every day during Blog Revival Week. It’ll do your sweet-tooth soul some good. Bring your friends. Do I get an AMEN!
Happy Birthday Little Brother Rob!! Schplickitee-Schplaka Lagga Ding! Ding!
Robin Sue
250 Comments
I just made this and after 30 minutes in the oven it is VERY brown around the sides and still completely liquid in the middle. I am using a 9 x 13 pan. Hmmm … gonna leave it a bit longer and see what happens.
Julie,
I see some are having trouble with this cake so I quickly rounded up all the ingredients and have one in the oven right now. I am going to try to trouble-shoot this thing to see what is going on.
Thanks!
Robin Sue
Hi Robin Sue
I just wanted to let you know that this cake is AWESOME! I have made it twice now…the first time I made it I used a clear glass pan at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. It came out perfect. My husband and friends LOVED it! I just made it again and I used at metal pan at 350…it looks pretty brown but from what I have read that is going to be fine. Thank you so much for sharing this super simple, super delicious cake!
Shannon
Thank you Shannon- so happy ya’ll liked it!
I made this today and it is very good. The only thing I changed was to use 1 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup raw washed sugar. Not tough or rubbery. It’s the perfect beginning of summer cake.
Robin Sue,
I made this cake yesterday for my small group Bible Study and OH MY GOODNESS it is simply delicious!! I cannot express, in words, how incredible the texture is, how moist, sweet….it’s just fabulous! I mixed everything as the directions say…they only thing I had to do was bake about 40 mins. instead of the 25-30. When done it was golden brown and really beautiful! Super easy and a great cake to take to a family reunion or a girl’s night out party. Thank you for a GREAT recipe!!!
Dianna
I just baked this cake this morning. I used the glass 9 x 13 pan at 325 degrees. I initially set the timer for 25 minutes, but it wasn’t done yet. So, five more minutes, then five more minutes. I think in total it baked around 40 minutes. It tastes very good. Thank you for sharing the recipe and for taking the time to “tweak” it for all of us. I followed the updated tips you shared.
Haven’t made this yet, but sounds wonderful. My questions are: do you use all purpose flour and do you drain the pineapple and is it pineapple in juice or heavy syrup? Thanks
Yes, AP flour, no need to drain, and juice. Enjoy!
Robin
I doubled this recipe for a Graduation Party as a SHEET CAKE. It did take me over 40 minutes to get the center to cook. The edges and corners became very dark compared to the rest of the cake, so I ran Reynolds Wraparound the edges.
The cake seem to continue cooking in the middle after removing from the oven. The toothpick testing doesn’t really work for this type of cake. I also made a mistake in grabbing pineapple tidbits along with crushed pineapple and it still worked well.
I also mixed crushed pineapple in the frosting, it made a bit runnier, where as i added a bit more powder sugar.
I cut the cake in 1 inch pieces, it is very rich, and it lasted all night. People raved of the cake!
Good to hear your guests raved! Thank you!
I made this for my husband exactly as originally described and it came out perfect. We loved it – it’s absolutely delicious and my hubby’s new favorite recipe. We had no trouble! Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome, glad you liked it!
Robin Sue
I made this today. It turned out perfect. The edges were getting a little dark so I just turned the oven down 25 degrees.
If this is supposed to be a “sheet cake” shouldn’t it be baked in a Jelly Roll pan that is: 10 1/2″ x 15 1/2″ x 1″ and not a 9″ x 13″ reg. cake pan? Maybe this is why it’s taking so much longer to cook?
You can cook it in either, I use a 9×13. Others have done it either way too.
I agree with Glenda. A SHEET cake is made in a jellyroll pan, not a 9×13 pan. I made mine this morning in a jellyroll pan at 350 for 25 minutes. Beautifully browned on top and cooked all the way through.
I followed the ingredients for the recipe exactly.. I used a 15x10x1 pan and baked for24 minutes… PERFECT!!!! thanks for the recipe!!
Im making this cake now, I added a little but of chopped pecans and about a 1/4 cup of coconut. Will update later to let you know. I’m baking it in a 9×13 glass pan.
Cake was very good, it took about 35-40 min on 325 degrees. Edges started to brown bug it was no big deal…
Thank you Cathy! The nuts and coconut sound delicious!
I have made this cake several times and everybody seems to love it!!! Making it now to take to a family reunion on Saturday!
My husband is a die-hard chocolate fan and after one bite of this cake he declared that it replaces his yearly chocolate ice cream cake birthday request. I am baking one up again tonight!
Very cool!
Question…..I need to make this cake tonight for tomorrow. Is it okay to put in fridge after icing?
Yes, you can store it in the fridge. Enjoy it!!
I have made this cake a few times now. I am having trouble getting the middle done, however my husband loves it. Really a good cake!
Try reducing the temp if you are using a glass baking dish. Others are pouring this into a sheet pan and baking it with no problems too. Enjoy!
I have made this cake for years – at first I didn’t read correctly and made it with a small can of crushed pinapple. It turns out like a torte and is still my son-in-laws favorite dessert! Now I make it both ways!
This turned out wonderful on the first try! I baked mine at 330 degrees and for 20 extra minutes given the fact that I know my oven pretty well. Love, love, love this recipe!
I have not tried this yet as I am waiting for an answer to my question from another post regarding the use of almond flour. I just wanted to post a comment to you Robin Sue because I felt bad after reading a couple of the comments. You took quite a beating regarding this cake recipe and you handled it with grace. Just thought you should know you made a good impression on me which is a testimony to your character. God bless you!
Thank you Diane!
I baked this last night for my parents, husband and kids. I baked at 350 for 30 mins, in a metal pan. The sides got a little brown, but still delicious!! We loved it!
Thank you so much, glad you loved it!
I made this several weeks ago (before the updates), just as you posted, and it was KILLER! My husband, who is an incredibly picky eater, and usually does not even like pineapple, could not get enough! I did include nuts (walnuts), used a 9×13 glass pan, and it was wonderful. Thank you so much for posting… I will definitely be making this again and again!
Thank you! I love it- “killer!!”
I must say this was an awesome cake! I made it today for our cookout and there wasn’t any left!
Fantastic! Will definitely make this again.
Wow. Absolutely amazing. I made this today and it turned out so beautifully. It was moist and flavorful. I used pecans, which went with it very well.
I no longer eat gluten, so I subbed in a blend of white rice flour, sweet rice flour and tapioca starch in 2:1:1 ratio. It turned out perfectly. Everyone in my family raved about it. People kept cutting themselves seconds and thirds. Thanks for the great recipe!
This cake is SO good. My entire family loves it and I have to bring it to every family function and all the teens in our family want me to make it for their birthdays. I’m making one now! I did however add about 2 tablespoons of butter to the cake recipe and it just adds a tad more moisture. SO good. My husband always requests it. Great cake!
5 Trackbacks