Fruit Cocktail Cake (A 1950s Recipe Worth Bringing Back)

A Cake I Hadn’t Made in Years

Have you ever heard of a fruit cocktail cake?

I remember my grandmother making this. I remember my mom making it. And it’s probably one of the first desserts I ever made for Darren after we got married — a long time ago now. He loved it. It was one of his favorites.

And then somehow I just… stopped making it.

Isn’t that the funniest thing about us? We find a new recipe, we get excited about it, we start making it all the time, and we sort of forget about the old ones. The good ones. The ones that were perfectly good all along. This cake sat in the back of my mind for years before I finally thought, well why on earth haven’t I made that?

So we’re revisiting it today, and I’m so glad we are.

Darren and I got to talking while it was in the oven about how often we both had fruit cocktail growing up. It was just something that was always in the house. It’s not something we buy much of anymore, but I’m sure it was a real treat back then when you couldn’t get fresh fruit year round the way we can now. You opened a can and there it was — peaches, pears, grapes, cherries, all of it.

And here’s the thing. When he tasted it, he said it was exactly how he remembered. Not overly sweet. So tender it’s almost juicy. That little bit of crunch from the pecans, that soft coconut in the sauce.

I know it’s a 1950s cake. But don’t let that throw you off one bit. It is still absolutely delicious here in the 2020s, and I think anybody can make it. You can do it in your kitchen. I know that you can.

Fruit Cocktail Cake

Prep time: 15 minutes Bake time: 40–60 minutes (mine took 48) Sauce: 8 minutes Cooling time: at least 1 hour Servings: 12–15 Pan: 9×13

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 can (15 oz) fruit cocktail, juice and all

For the brown sugar pecan topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

For the hot coconut sauce:

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 to 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and grease a 9×13 pan. That low temperature is not a typo — I’ll tell you why in a minute.
2. Measure your 2 cups of flour into a large bowl using the dip, level and pour method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and let it lay in there lightly, then level it off. You don’t want it packed in there or your cake will come out heavy.
3. Add the sugar, salt and baking soda. Now, the old recipe doesn’t tell you to do this, but I like to give the dry ingredients a quick stir with a whisk. It breaks the flour up a little and you’ll see it get much finer in consistency. Just a few seconds is all it takes.
4. Add both eggs, one at a time. Open your can of fruit cocktail and pour just the juice into the bowl — we’re keeping the fruit aside for a second.
5. Stir everything together by hand for a good 1 to 2 minutes, until it’s really well combined and not lumpy at all. No mixer needed for any of this.
6. Now fold in the fruit cocktail itself, gently, until it’s incorporated all through the batter.
7. Pour it into your greased 9×13 and scrape all that goodness out of the bowl.
8. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and the chopped pecans together. You can almost just do this with your hand. Sprinkle it evenly all over the top of the cake.
9. Bake at 275 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes. That’s a wide range, so you’ll need to know your oven and keep an eye on it — I start checking mine around 35 minutes, and this one came out perfect right at 48. Use the toothpick test in the center if you want to be sure. Here’s why we go low: most cakes bake at 350, but at that temperature the outside of this one browns long before the inside is done. At 275 the inside has time to bake through and the top comes out perfectly golden instead of too dark.
10. While the cake finishes, start your sauce. Put the butter, sugar and evaporated milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. If you’ve got one with a pour spout on the side, use it — it makes pouring over the cake so much easier.
11. Add the coconut and cook the sauce for about 8 minutes until it’s hot and bubbly. The recipe doesn’t say to stand there and stir it the whole time, but I stay close and stir most of the time. It might be just fine without it — I’d just rather be sure.
12. Pull the cake out and pour the hot sauce all over it right away. If the coconut pools up in spots, just move it around lightly so you get a little bit everywhere.
13. Let it sit at least an hour so that sauce has time to soak all the way down into the cake. It’ll still be barely warm at the bottom of the pan when it’s ready, and that first piece is always the hardest one to get out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a mixer for this cake? No, and that’s one of my favorite things about it. Everything gets stirred together by hand with a bowl and a spoon. No creaming butter, no stand mixer, no hand mixer.

Do I drain the fruit cocktail? Absolutely not. The juice is what makes this cake so tender and moist — it goes in first, then you fold in the fruit itself. Use the whole can.

Why does this cake bake at 275 degrees instead of 350? Because at 350 the outside browns too early and the inside doesn’t cook quite right. The low temperature gives the middle time to bake through while the top stays perfectly golden.

What if I don’t like coconut? Leave it out. The sauce is still delicious without it — you’ll just have a hot buttery caramel sauce soaking into the cake, and that’s nothing to complain about.

The old recipe calls for a can of Angel Flake coconut. Where do I find that? They don’t sell it in cans anymore, only in bags. One of those small cans works out to about 1 to 1 1/3 cups from the bag. If you love coconut, go with the higher amount.

Can I make this the day before? Yes, and I think it’s even better. That sauce keeps soaking in and the cake stays wonderfully moist. Cover it and leave it at room temperature.

How do I store the leftovers? Covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5. I like it best when it’s just barely warm.

Is this the same as a Do Nothing Cake? They’re close cousins. A Do Nothing Cake usually uses crushed pineapple and gets the same style of cooked coconut sauce poured over the top. This one uses a can of fruit cocktail instead, and it has that brown sugar pecan topping baked right on.

Can I use walnuts instead of pecans? Sure. Use whatever you’ve got. I’m partial to pecans, but that’s just me.