Happy Easter!

Let's celebrate Easter with a coconut cake. Not everyone likes coconut, but this cake is a really easy cake and believe me the coconut is a bonus! Hope you enjoy.







COCONUT CAKE

1 - yellow cake mix
1-1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups coconut, divided
1 - 8oz. cool whip, thawed
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained

Prepare cake batter and bake in 13x9 inch pan as directed on the package. Cool 15 minutes in the pan. Pierce the cake with large fork at 1/2" intervals.

Combine milk, sugar and 1/2 cup coconut in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Reduce the heat to low. simmer 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Spoon over the warm cake, spread the coconut to evenly cover top of the cake. Cool completely.

Add 1/2 cup of the remaining coconut to the cool whip, stir gently until well blended. Spread over the cake. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of coconut**. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. Top with the pineapple chunks just before serving.

**Tint your last cup of coconut green and top the cake with jelly beans for a really festive look.
Eliminate using the pineapple with this method.

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is our daughter's birthday and in honor of her I'm posting a recipe for Chocolate Eclair Cake. She is her mother's daughter with her love of chocolate, and apparently so is our granddaughter. You go girl! :-) Hope you enjoy this not so calorie friendly, but oh so yummy dessert! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDI!

Chocolate Éclair Cake


Pastry:
1 cup water
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs

Filling:
1 8oz package cream cheese
2 cups milk
2 packages instant vanilla pudding
1/2 teaspoon Rum flavoring

Hershey's chocolate syrup
Cool whip

Pastry:
Boil water and butter then remove from heat. Add flour and stir until mixed. Add eggs all at once stirring until well blended. Spread in 9x13 inch pan and bake for 40 minutes or until golden at 350 degrees.

Filling:
Beat cream cheese with milk. Add pudding mix and Rum flavoring. Beat until smooth (it will thicken as you beat). Pour over cooked pastry, top with cool whip and drizzle with Hershey's chocolate syrup.