Baking. Anyone else love it? Share recipes here.

[Summer]

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is that it gives me a great "excuse" to bake as much as I used to when I was younger. My family used to be far too spoiled and got homemade cookies/desserts probably 5 days per week when I had the energy to do it. Now I don't do that as often, but always find a way to bake as much as possible during the holidays. Anyone else enjoy baking, or at least enjoy eating what we baker's create?

[Creator]

I wish you were my neighbour... I hate baking and cooking. People say I am good at it though, well at least cooking. All I ever bake is a sponge cake here and there...

[Summer]

Hawaiian Dream Cake

1 Yellow Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, or small can of crushed pineapple, if desired
1 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple
1 3 oz. package of vanilla pudding
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 cup of whole or skim milk
16 oz. carton of Cool Whip or whipped Cream for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soften cream cheese by keeping it out of the cooler and on the counter awhile. Do the same for the cup of milk. Grease and flour a 13 inch by 9 inch cake pan. Mix cake according to directions, except squeeze out as much pineapple juice as possible and use that in place of some of the water. Also, if you'd like you cake very moist, which is what I prefer, after squeezing out most of the juice in the smaller can of pineapple add it to the cake mix after all other ingredients. Applesauce will work just as well to make the cake super moist if you'd rather use it.

Bake the cake as directed. Let cool completely.

In the meantime cream the crushed pineapple, cream cheese, vanilla pudding and milk together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Using a large wooden spoon's end, poke holes into the cake after putting it back right-side-up in the baking pan to allow the pineapple mixture to soak down into the cake itself. Spread the pineapple mixture over the cake.

I like to cover the cake with foil and let it set and cool further at this point in the fridge. After it's been cooled for at least 1 hour, then one can either put the cool whip or whipped cream all over the cake, or one can slice the cake, putting each slice to be served onto plates and then put the whipped topping on. It just depends on ones needs. If the cake is to be eaten entirely at once it won't hurt one bit to put the whipped topping on the entire cake before cutting it and putting onto plates to serve.

I really hope you like this recipe as much as my family and I did! I took the liberty of improving on the recipe I found by adding the extra fruit into the cake itself as the first time I made the recipe, the yellow cake was too dry for my liking. One can use only 1/8 of a cup of vegetable oil and increase the applesauce to 2/3 of a cup if one is watching ones fat intake. One can also use reduced fat cream cheese, sugar free pudding mix, and sugar free/reduced fat whipped topping for the same reason if desired. It will still make an wonderful special occasion dessert either way. Enjoy!