Holidays; music, laughter, togetherness and food! That is what winter holidays bring to mind. No matter the occasion, it is celebrated with food while people gather..laughter overheard while music fitting the day, plays softly in the background. With our family, each person brings something. Grandma and her Chicken and Dumplings.
My other Grandma always made a Sour Cream Pound Cake. Mama and her Blueberry Cake. Daddy always roasted the turkey. Papa always manned the grill. This Cranberry Coconut Cream Cake, if I had thought about it before, it would be my go to cake. So easy..as most of my recipes are, and bursting with delightful flavors! I know this would have been a favorite of my Daddy’s seeing how his favorite cake to eat was coconut.
Make this refrigerator cake to take with you on your holidays visits and be prepared to be asked to make it again and again. Make this a day ahead as it gets better the longer the flavors have time to mingle.
The cranberries give just a hint of tartness to the sweet cake. If you prefer, switch to the fresh cranberries to sweetened dried cranberries.
Cranberry Coconut Cream Cake
ingredients
- 1 – 15 oz. box Pillsbury Golden Vanilla or Lemon Cake Mix
- 1 – 4 oz. box Jello Coconut Cream Instant Pudding Mix
- 4 eggs
- 1 – 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 – 15 oz. can cream of coconut
- 1 – 16 0z. container Lite Cool Whip
- 2 cups cranberries, measure then minced
- 6 Tablespoons superfine sugar, divided
- 2 cups sweetened coconut
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom only of 13×9 pan. In food processor or blender, finely chop 1 cup cranberries. Stir in 3 Tablespoons superfine sugar to coat and put aside. Mix eggs, sour cream, buttermilk and coconut oil in stand, or with hand held, mixer. Add cake mix and pudding. Mix 2 minutes on medium. Gently fold in cranberries with juice that has accumulated. Do not stir too much.
Spread in greased 13×9 pan. Bake 25 –30 minutes until set, toothpick comes out clean. While hot, poke many holes with a large fork or skewer. The holes should be big enough for liquid to go in. Pour cream of coconut over top of hot cake. Spreading to get in the holes. Add half container cool whip now and combine with cream of coconut to go inside cake. Or, wait until cream of coconut has seeped inside cake and then spread Cool Whip over top.
Finely chop remaining 1 cup whole cranberries. Stir in remaining 3 Tablespoons superfine sugar. Toss gently with coconut. Sprinkle over top of cake. Cool in refrigerator or put in freezer 1 hour.
