Ugly Duckling Cake for a Mid-Week Brunch

There's something special and comforting about using recipes from one's childhood.  Especially baking cakes.  Ugly Duckling Cake was a favorite of my family when I was growing up.  I've made it a few times for my husband and he loves it, too.  The ingredients and the name are unsophisticated, it uses a yellow cake mix, a can of fruit cocktail and coconut for the cake part, but the flavors blend deliciously together.  I decided to do a mid-week brunch and have the cake as the sweet element.  I also made scrambled eggs with cheese, turkey sausage, Hawaiian sweet rolls, yogurt and granola parfaits with strawberries, and Pineapple Mimosas.   I kind of planned the brunch around the cake and played up the tropical element a little.  The flavors all went well together and now my sons like the cake, too. 

Ugly Duckling Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

1 can fruit cocktail

2 1/3 c. coconut

2 eggs

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2c. butter

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. evaporated milk

Combine cake mix, fruit cocktail with juice, 1 cup of the coconut and the eggs in large mixing bowl.  Blend; beat at medium speed 2 minutes.  Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake at 325 degrees  for 45 minutes.  Bring butter, sugar, milk to a boil in small saucepan.  Boil 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and add remaining coconut.  Spoon over hot cake in pan. 

The cake mix, fruit cocktail, and coconut look so pretty together and taste good, too.

The cake is sprinkled with brown sugar and ready to go in the oven.

The cake is all baked and it is time for brunch. 

A cork from a bottle of Cava for our mimosas.

My slice of Ugly Duckling Cake.