Almost a Fail - Pineapple Pecan Cake

Not the prettiest cake, however it taste GREAT as it slides over your tongue!

Girl sees recipe and thinks,"Yum!"
After scanning the pantry and 'frig shelves, girl thinks,

"I bet that pineapple cake mix would work just fine AND cherry pie filling with pecan cream cheese frosting will be amazing!"

Lovers of cherry pineapple dump cake, you all know what I'm talkin' about don't you?

Anyway, I assembled my ingredients and began to follow the recipe directions exactly, except for my adjustments.

Then, the hubby said,"Who is that cake for?" and I being a good wife replied,
"For you honey"
Guilt caused me to say it. I swear. I know he isn't getting enough quality time with me lately. 

Cake batter ready for the oven. Ignore the aluminum foil in the picture.  I was making supper and baking at the same time. 

Even though I knew that cake needed to be cooled on the baking rack, wrapped up in plastic wrap, and chill in the 'frig overnight, I told him it was for him....tonight.

I need to make sure my man knows he is first, don't I? Go ahead, laugh with me!

Now onto the sad part, the fail.

I used a pineapple cake mix I bought on sale to see how it would taste. Here is a one word description for the taste of the cake mix- artificial.

Yep, I could taste the artificial pineapple flavoring in spite of the fact that I put a 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple, juice and all, into the batter.

Impatient to get the cake to cool down,
I placed the almost hot cake in the freezer compartment of my 'frig for an hour or so. Thinking it was cool because it was cool to the touch, I cut the nine inch, round layer in half to discover.....warm cake.

Too bad I had already separated the halves.
The cake hadn't separated cleanly in half. The warm center of the cake stuck together and pulled the center of the top cake layer out,leaving a bowl shaped center in the cake round. AND, the darn top layer started cracking apart.

However, I went ahead with filling and stacking the cake.
Carefully, I spread a thin layer of frosting over the cut sides of each layer before piping a border, or dam of frosting, around the outside edge of the bottom layer. The cherry pie filling filled the dam, or circle of frosting on the bottom layer. Quickly, I flipped the top layer onto the bottom layer, spread more pecan cream cheese frosting over it to hide the cracks, and sprinkled it with chopped pecans.

Yes, I could have waited, but the hubby was waiting for a slice of cake! 

Yes, my cake was almost a fail.
After sitting in the 'frig overnight, the cake settled down and sliced into beautiful even slices! After spending twenty-four hours in the refrigerator, the artificial flavor was not nearly as apparent. Plus, cherry pie filling and pecan cream cheese frosting do indeed meld into a sweet, silky smooth marriage of flavor that is heavenly.

Moral of this Story
 "Haste in cake makes waste." BUT we still ended up with a slice of homemade happiness on a plate!

After chilling in the 'frig overnight, the cake sliced perfectly.

For the original, great recipe     CLICK HERE      The frosting alone is worth having the recipe! 

NOTE
The original recipe calls for an 18 ounce cake mix. Due to downsizing, most cake mixes are NOW less than 16 ounces. You have two choices.
1. Use two 8 inch round pans, or
2. Use 2 boxes of cake mix, fill three 8 inch round pans, and make cupcakes with the extra batter.