Hawaiian Wedding Cake

So, how was your cinco de mayo?  Mine was woefully devoid of margaritas, but we had a good time anyways.  After finishing the first of only two finals, Peter, two classmates and their wives and I went to a Mexican super dive called Carbon (literally a hole in the wall...under the highway, serving tacos in Chinatown kind of place).  Ok, these were THE BEST tacos I've ever had...they have several flavors, but I tried their tilapia and roasted vegetable tacos, which were to die for.  Peter had a couple of steak tacos, and after a small sampling, were fantastic as well.  


After dinner, I offered to bring dessert, so we all headed to our friends' apartment for this lovely  Hawaiian wedding cake.   I've been meaning to try this recipe for a while after my mom emailed it to me, and it was light and refreshing, perfect for post-taco sweetness.  Then, the main event: the Avengers!  I'm not a comic book nerd and I really am not a huge fan of sitting through entire movies ( I usually like to have an "out"....like a computer, magazine, book, etc...) but this movie was really amazing.  And besides...combining Thor and Ironman?  Hard to argue with that.


Hawaiian Wedding Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1 ¼ cups buttermilk*

4 egg whites

1 egg

1 package (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese

1 cup cold 2% milk

1 package (1oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

2 cans (one 20 ounces, one 8 oz) unsweetened crushed pineapple, drained

1 carton (8 oz) Cool Whip

½ cup flaked coconut, toasted

Beat dry cake mix, buttermilk, egg whites and egg.  Bake in a 9 x 13 pan that’s been sprayed with Pam at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in milk.  Add pudding mix.  Fold in about half of the pineapple.  Spread over cake.  Spoon remaining pineapple over pudding mixture.  Top with Cool Whip.  Sprinkle with coconut.  Store in refrigerator.

*I make it by adding 1 TBSP white vinegar to the milk.  Let it stand for 5 minutes.