Tea Room Recipe #32 - Tea Tyme & What Nots (Fredericksburg, Va.)

This week's tea room recipe is one of those slapped-together quickie things that's so easy, I feel compelled to say I "assembled" this rather than that I "made" this because it was so easy—and uncommonly good!

The recipe is from a 2004 book that my friend Deberah gave me, "America's Best Tea Room Recipes," which is really a fun little tea room cookbook because of the many establishments, old and new, included. Happily, it appears that Tea Tyme & What Nots is still in business, too!

Now icing a cake with whipped cream is a tricky thing, and as you might guess the Cool Whip threatened to melt before I could get it on fast enough. Still, a dab of whipped cream here, a toss of coconut there, and voila, you have cake! I believe the word my hubby used to describe it was "Fab-o-rama," or something to that effect. He agreed with me that the lightness of this cake from the whipped cream icing is one reason it was so good. Next time I have friends over for tea, I'm slapping together slaving over one of these cakes again!

Tropical Cake

1 box lemon cake mix (the store was out of lemon flavor so I used pineapple, with fine results!)
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 (8-ounce) container Cool Whip
Shredded coconut

Prepare cake mix and bake according to package directions using two 8-inch or 9-inch pans. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks. In small saucepan, combine pineapple, cornstarch and sugar. Bring to a boil and let cool completely. Place one layer of cake on a plate and spread with the pineapple mixture to within about an inch of the cake's edge. Top with remaining layer, frost with Cool Whip, and garnish with coconut. Store in refrigerator. (Assuming there is any left!)