Mixed Fruit Dump Cake

I love an easy dessert. And so does my family. Well...they just like dessert. I'm not sure they really care how easy it is. Ha! Using dry cake mixes as a base for a dessert like this makes the whole thing easier, I think. The nice thing about THIS little treat is that you can use just about any kind of fruit you like. I had mixed fruit in my freezer but fresh would work too. Peaches would be marvelous! Serve it warm with ice cream for an over the top experience!

Mixed Fruit Dump Cake



6 cups fruit (I used frozen peaches, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries)
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 white cake mix
1/3 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup butter ~ melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir with a whisk until blended.

Stir in the fruit.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle DRY cake mix over the top of the fruit mixture then scatter the almonds on top.

Drizzle with the melted butter. 

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown. 

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

 

Let's go!

 

Pour all the fruit in your baking dish.

 

Mix together the evaporated milk, 

sugar, eggs and cinnamon.

 

Then pour over the fruit.

 

Sprinkle with DRY cake 

mix on top of the fruit then 

sprinkle the almonds on top.

 

Then drizzle the melted butter.

 

Bake...

 

...then enjoy with some ice cream!

Creamy Fruit Salad

I'm almost embarrassed to post this. Almost but not quite. It's SOOOO easy but SOOOO good! I made this for christmas dinner and got rave reviews all around. I used canned fruit..and a few blackberries I found in my freezer... because that's what I had...and I'm not a big canned fruit girl....so I can only imagine what this would be like using all fresh fruit. And you can use any kind of fruit...get creative! Just think what lots fresh berries would taste like in this! But...I'm a BIG fan of berries and anything resembling cream so that would work just fine for me! Kids will love this! It doesn't make a ton so it's nice for a small family dinner but it can be easily doubled!! Give it a try! 

Creamy Fruit Salad 

 

• 3 pounds mixed fruits, cut into chunks


• 1 package (3 ounces) vanilla or French vanilla pudding, not instant


• 1 1/3 cups pineapple juice


• 1 1/3 cups orange juice

Preparation: 
Put chilled fruit into a large serving bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, combine pudding mix and juices. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Pour the sauce over the fruit and mix well. Refrigerate until chilled. 

(I didn't post a ton of pictures with this recipe because it's SO easy...and you guys are SMART!) 

 
Here's all you need...

 
Make the pudding with the juice...no milk!! 
Pour the cooked pudding mixture over the fruit and stir.

 
Serve!

Cookie Fruit Salad

Here's a fun and different twist on fruit salad! Add cookies! Now don't be turning your nose up...this is REALLY good! Keep in mind that banana pudding has cookies in it and this is kind of like that. I left the bananas out of it for us because none of use around here are that excited about bananas but the pineapple and mandarin oranges were perfect! Pick your choice of canned fruit...get creative!

Cookie Fruit Salad



1 5-ounce box vanilla instant pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
2 8-ounce containers Cool Whip
2 11-ounce cans mandarin oranges ~ drained
1 20-ounce can chunk pineapple ~ drained
1 package Mother's brand striped chocolate shortbread cookies ~ crushed
1 - 2 bananas ~ sliced (I left them out)

Whisk pudding and milk together until smooth.

Add Cool Whip and mix well.

Fold in remaining ingredients and chill for several hours before serving.

The cast of characters. (You'll see 

that I halved the recipe for us.)

Mix the milk and pudding together.

Then add the Cool Whip.

Crush the cookies.

Add the crushed cookies and 

the fruit to the pudding mixture.

Allow to rest in the fridge for a 

few hours before serving. Delish!

10 Fruit Recipes

Yay for fruit!! Here's 10 different recipes for 10 different fruits! From breads to drinks to ice cream...I tried to cover it all! Take a look at all these yummy recipes and see if one speaks to YOU! 

Here's the LINK all recipes on Facebook and Pinterest.

These muffins turned out so yummy. I love how they are so versatile. It's just a basic muffin recipe that so many things can be added to. I had some frozen fruit that I use for smoothies so I diced it up and added it to the batter. You can use just about anything....nuts, raisins, cinnamon...anything!! Get creative!!

Fruity Morning Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

1/2 stick butter ~ melted then cooled

2 cups diced fruit

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line muffin tin with liners

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. 

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.

Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all mixed in.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix until just combined, about 15 seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy.

Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Allow to cool.

Makes about 24 muffins

For our muffins, you'll need this stuff.

Combine the dry...

..then combine the milk, vanilla and egg.

Melt the butter and add that to the milk mixture.

Then pour that into the dry mixture.

Gently stir in the fruit.

Fill your muffin cups a smidge over half full.

Then bake.

I'm not a regular user of canned pie filling but I do keep it on hand in case of a "dessert emergency". You know those times when you need something fast and easy because your husband just told you he invited his coworker over for dinner...or when you get that late afternoon phone call from your in-laws and they tell you they're in town and will be right over? Yeah..that kind of emergency. Well...this little pie will fill the bill! It's easy to throw together and tastes great. You can use all cherry pie filling or go with the berry, like I did here.

Sunrise Berry Pie

1 9-inch graham cracker crust

1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 20-ounce can mixed berry pie filling
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (drained, 2 tablespoons juice reserved)

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, pineapple juice and vanilla.

Add in half of the drained pineapple and 1/2 cup of the berry pie filling. Stir to combine.

In another mixing bowl, whip cream with powdered sugar until soft peaks form.

Fold sweetened whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Pour filling into the pie crust. Top with the rest of the berry pie filling and remaining crushed pineapple.

Chill.

 
Let's get going! 
You can make your own graham cracker 
crust or use one that's ready made.


 
Drain the pineapple. 
I only had sliced pineapple so I whizzed 
that around in my mini chopped to get crushed.


 
Whip the cream cheese with the 
pineapple juice and vanilla until well combined.


 
Then add half of the drained pineapple 
and half of the berry filling.


 
In a separate bowl, 
whip the cream with the powdered 
sugar until nice and fluffy.


 
Then fold it into the berry mixture....


 
...until nice and blended.


 
Spread it into your pie crust.


 
Then top with the remaining pie filling 
and sprinkle with the remaining pineapple. 
Chill!

My Dad's Favorite Fruitcake

Okay...this is for all you fruitcake haters out there. You just THINK you hate fruitcake. What you hate is the IDEA of fruitcake being a mass-produced, dry brick that tastes like something that's been sitting in the back of your grandmother's pantry for 18 years. But fresh fruitcake can't be beat! And if you don't care for candied fruit, then use dates instead. Add in some dried apricots or cranberries. There are so many options. Please don't say you hate it until you try THIS!! It's moist and crazy good. I've been using this recipe for years and years...it's just perfect!!! And yup... it's my dad's favorite.

My Dad’s Favorite Fruitcake



3 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup orange juice
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
¼ cup dark corn syrup
2 cups golden raisins
1 pound candied mixed fruit
2 cups pecan halves

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Line two loaf pans with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Combine all ingredients (EXCEPT FRUITS AND NUTS) in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low until combined then beat for 3 minutes on medium-high, scraping bowl occasionally.

Stir in fruits and nuts.

Divide mixture into prepared pans.

Bake 2 ½ - 3 hours or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cover with foil the last hour of baking to prevent over-browning, if necessary.

Brush with glaze. (Recipe follows)

Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.


Glaze: (optional)

½ cup sugar
½ cup water

Boil sugar and water together about 10 minutes. Cool then brush over cooked fruitcakes.

 
Here's what you need for 
the yummiest fruitcake ever!

 
Stir together the dry ingredients.

 
Then mix the wet together. 
Include the eggs in this step.

 
Mix the wet and dry together.

 
Then add the fruits and nuts.

 
Line your pans with foil then 
spray them WELL with cooking 
spray. I show large and small pans 
here but I used two large and one 
small. I just shorted the large pans 
a little bit to make a small one, too.

 
Pour the batter into the prepared pans.

 
Bake it up and brush with the 
glaze if you want! So good!!

Rooting around in my freezer the other day, I found a bunch of partial bags of frozen fruit...along with some pie dough. I love freezer finds, don't you? I even found the crumble topping in the freezer for the dessert. I just added a little bit more to it to make sure I had enough to cover the pie. The outcome of these finds was this delicious fruity dessert. The one thing I did NOT find was vanilla ice cream, though...so we made due with whipped cream. I think I should really inspect my freezer more often...who knows what's waiting for me!

Mixed Fruit Crumble



2 cups frozen mixed fruit – I used a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and peaches
1 pie crust for a 9-inch pie pan
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup oatmeal – pulsed in the food processor
¼ - 1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup cold butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sugar and cornstarch together and pour over fruit. Toss well and set aside.

Roll out pie dough to fit in the pie pan. Seal and crimp edges. Pour sugared fruit into pie shell.

Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, nuts and butter into a medium sized bowl. Blend with pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake crumble for about 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbly.

Here's what I started with. You can use 

fresh fruit, of course or any combo of fruit.

I used regular rolled oats in this but the 1 

minute kind would work. I pulsed the oats 

in the food processor to make them a little finer.

Blend the oats, brown sugar, butter 

and pecans with a pastry blender.

Roll out your pie dough and place it in the pan. 

Combine the cornstarch and sugar and mix it 

with the fruit. Pour the fruit mixture into your 

prepared pie pan then sprinkle with the topping.

Bake it up and dig in!!