7 retro recipes for clever coconut Christmas cakes, including a snowman, gifts & a candy cane - Click Americana (2024)

• Categories:1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, Vintage advertisem*nts, Vintage Christmas, Vintage dessert recipes

• By The Click Americana Team
• Added or last updatedNovember 9, 2019

1. Christmas Rave Reviews cake recipe from 1985

Christmas Rave Reviews cake recipe

Yield: Serves 12-14

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 package (2-layer size) white or yellow cake mix
• 1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O brand vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
• 1-1/3 cups water
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1-1/2 cups Baker's Angel Flake coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup cream cheese
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups coconut

Instructions

1. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs and oil in a large mixer bowl. Blend; beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Stir in coconut and nuts.
2. Pour into greased, floured 11-cup ring mold or 10-inch tube pan.
3. Bake at 325 F for 60 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool on rack.
4. Coconut cream cheese frosting (uses last 6 ingredients): Cream 1/3 cup butter, blend in 2 packages (3 ounces each) cream cheese.
5. Add 1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar alternately with 4 tablespoons milk, beating well after each addition. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
6. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle 2 cups coconut over frosting.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 14Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 543Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 513mgCarbohydrates: 67gFiber: 4gSugar: 43gProtein: 7g

Click Americana offers approximate nutrition information as a general reference only, and we make no warranties regarding its accuracy. Please make any necessary calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, and consult with a qualified healthcare professional if you have dietary concerns.

2. The gift coconut Christmas cake (1986)

Ingredients

1 package (2-layer size) white or yellow cake mix
1 package (4-serving size) Jell-O brand vanilla flavor instant pudding and pie filling
1-1/3 cups water
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1-1/2 cups Baker’s Angel Flake coconut
1 cup strawberry jam

Frosting:

3-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip whipped topping
2 cups (about) Baker’s coconut
Large green gumdrops

Directions

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs and oil in a large mixer bowl. Blend; beat at medium speed of electric mixer for 4 minutes. Stir in 1-1/3 cups coconut.

Pour into greased, floured 13×9 inch pan. Bake at 350 F for 50 minutes, or until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan. Do not underbake. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack.

Cut in half to make two 6×8 layers. Spread jam and 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Mark “ribbon” areas with wooden picks. Sprinkle 2 cups coconut over rest of cake.

Flatten gumdrops with rolling pin on pastry board sprinkled with sugar. Roll gumdrops together very thin (1/16 inch), coating with sugar. Cut with sharp knife and place in ribbon areas. Cut seven 3×1 inch strips and form into bow. [Editor’s note: You could also use something like Fruit by the Foot.]

3. Retro recipe for a gift cake – Variation with red ribbon

Make this cake as in the recipe, except after the step for frosting with topping: Mark “ribbon” with wooden picks. Tint 2/3 cup of the coconut with food coloring and 1 teaspoon water; place in “ribbon” areas; edge with gumdrop strips, if desired. Sprinkle remaining coconut over rest of cake. Garnish with gumdrop bow, if desired.

4. Coconut candy cane cake recipe

Watch youngsters, grownups (and even Santa!) go for this compliment-winning holiday cake. It’s easy, it’s fun to make… with your favorite cake mix and Durkee’s Coconut.

During the holiday season, and all year ‘round you’ll enjoy creating your own special desserts with Durkee’s Coconut. Famous for its sweet, moist, tree-ripened coconut flavor, there’s a Durkee Coconut for every recipe need!

1. Using entire package (16-20 oz.) of cake mix fill 8” x 8” x 2” square cake pan with white cake mix batter, Insert 6-ounce juice glass exactly in middle of pan, pouring small amount of batter into glass to prevent movement, Bake at 350 F for 35-45 minutes (325 for glass baking dish). [21st century editor’s note: Make sure the juice glass is oven-safe.]

2. Remove from oven. Assemble on serving platter. Cut as indicated, rounding corners and adding outlined section to form the bottom of cane.

3. Add 1/8 tsp. Durkee’s peppermint extract to boiled frosting. Color 1 cup coconut, using 8-10 drops red food coloring in a tablespoon of water. Decorate cake with alternating red and white stripes of coconut.

5. Coconut snowman cake – I’ll only melt in your mouth (1958)

Hi, there! I’m Roly Poly, the Snowman. and I’m all dressed up with top hat and candy cane to make your holiday table a merry one. I’m as easy-to-make as a snowball and delicious to eat since I’m completely covered with Durkee’s Coconut. Only Durkee could make my snowy coconut suit so fluffy and flavorful. Try me!

6. Christmas tree coconut cake (1948)

7. Dixie Christmas cake recipe (1941)

“Do as they do Down South, folks, an’ serve a Fresh Coconut Cake for Christmas. Hear the cheers when you bring on this big beautiful 3-layer white cake, tender an’ light as a feather, buried in clouds of snowy coconut an’ steeped in rich coconut flavor. But make sure you get the FULL deliciousness. Don’t risk ordinary shortenin’s that may dull flavor. Make it with purer Spry, the flavor saver!”

How to make a Dixie coconut Christmas cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup shortening
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup milk (or coconut milk)
1/2 cup water
6 eggs whites, stiffly beaten

Directions

Blend Spry shortening, almond extract, vanilla and salt. Add sugar gradually and cream well. (My, how easy Spry mixes!) Sift baking powder with flour 3 times. Add flour to creamed mixture, alternately with combined milk and water, mixing after each addition until smooth. Fold in egg whites.

Bake in three 9-inch Sprycoated layer pans in moderate oven (350 F) 25 minutes. Spread fresh Coconut Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

Bake two or three days before Christmas and store in a tin box to allow coconut flavor to permeate the entire cake.

Fresh coconut frosting

Ingredients

2 tablespoons shortening
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup hot milk (or coconut milk)
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
2 coconuts, grated, or 2 to 3 cups shredded coconut
3 candied cherries
Citron or angelica

Directions

Heat shortening and butter in hot milk until melted. Pour over combined sugar and salt and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add almond extract. Add additional milk if needed to make a nice spreading consistency.

Spread thin layer of frosting over each layer. Top each layer with coconut, pressing into frosting. Spread a thin layer of frosting over sides of cake and press coconut into it. Top with coconut to give a soft fluffy top.

Cut three cherries to form leaves of poinsettias. Use citron or angelica for stems.

• Categories: 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, Vintage advertisem*nts, Vintage Christmas, Vintage dessert recipes
• Tags: 1950s christmas, 1970s christmas, 1980s christmas, bundt cakes, cake, cake frosting, cake mixes, cakes, christmas recipes, coconut, cool whip, vintage christmas desserts, vintage dessert recipes, winter
• Added or last updatedNovember 9, 2019
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