This month, I am ALL about quick and easy. Okay, fine, I am always about quick and easy, but it’s especially true now. I’m also all for using what you have and minimizing unnecessary trips to the grocery store, so in burrowing through my pantry, I found a couple of cans of fruit cocktail. The wheels in my brain started turning as I glanced between the cans in my hand and my jar of Amish Friendship Bread starter on the counter. And then, a recipe for Fruit Cocktail Amish Friendship Bread Cake was born.
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I spent part of my childhood in Texas, and we are all about fruit cocktail there. I traveled quite a bit as I grew up, and ended up craving it no matter where I lived.
This sweetness of this cake reminds me of an angel food cake and can be served with or without the coconut pecan sauce. It’s also super giftable — this recipe yielded one 8″ cake for my family, and two mini loaf pans for neighbors. I put the sauce in small containers so they could warm and add the sauce when they were ready (want the printable? Scroll to the bottom!).
This is a one-bowl recipe. I mixed it by hand, but you can use your electric mixer. If you prefer to have the fruit chunks (as I do), mix all the other ingredients first, then fold the fruit cocktail last in last.
Some versions of this recipe retain all of the heavy syrup — I partially drained mine because I prefer more of a cake-like texture, and because I planned on using the Coconut-Pecan Sauce … a lot of it!
Because of the high sugar content in this recipe, the top of your cake may brown a bit too fast. If this is the case, gently tent a sheet of foil on top for the last 10 minutes of baking.
The cake may look ready before it is — the toothpick may even come out clean, but I recommend letting it bake for a minimum of 30 minutes before removing from oven and then allowing it to cool completely before slicing.
Old Fashioned Fruit Cocktail Amish Friendship Bread Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 16 ounces fruit cocktail undrained
Topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (177° C). Grease two 8" cake pans.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. If using an electric mixer, reserve the fruit cocktail until everything is mixed, and then fold it into the batter.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake for a minimum of 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in 2-3 places comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too quickly, tent a sheet of foil over the top of the cakes for the last 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely. While the cakes are cooling, prepare the coconut-pecan sauce.
- In a small saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients and bring to boil. Remove from heat.
- Serve the sauce on the side, or poke holes in the top of the cakes and pour over the top of the cakes.
- ENJOY!
Notes
- Some versions of this recipe retain all of the heavy syrup for the fruit cocktail — I partially drained mine because I prefer more of a cake-like texture.
- Don’t remove the cake too early from the oven — it needs at least 30 minutes, sometimes more — and check for doneness in at least 2-3 places.
My family ate the cake, and we shared mini loaves of the Fruit Cocktail AFB Cake with our neighbors with the sauce in a small container. One of my neighbors said he ate the sauce with a spoon!
I don’t have a color printer, but I made these small notes to go with them. Download yours by clicking on the link below — there are 4 to a page.
>> Have you tried this? Give the recipe some stars or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
Can you use regular sourdough starter in this recipe?
Haven’t tried this yet.. but I’m going to with a few adaptions… I’m going to use diced peaches j stead of fruit cocktail and bake in muffin tins… I’m concerned because there’s no egg in the ingredients… was this an over site? Or is there no egg in the recipe?
Hi Aneisha! Yes, this recipe doesn’t call for any eggs. We find that with the undrained fruit cocktail, it has enough liquid to bake well. Let us know how it goes if you try it with the peaches!
I’ve made a recipe similar to this many years ago. This one sounds amazing. I plan on making this recipe as soon as my starter is ready. I found the post on converting times for the different pans. I want to use my Bundt pan so this post is coming in handy. Thank you for all the great recipes.
So glad you’re enjoying it, Anna! We love to hear this!
I have not made a friendship fruit cake before, but I have made a fruit cocktail cake before. Anxious to try it with my starter.
Let us know how it goes, Delia! Happy Baking!
Hi Im just finished mixing the dough, Im concerned because it is not liquid on it.
No eggs/oil or milk?
I will let you know how it turned out.
Im doing 6 cakes 3 carrot/pineapple our favorite and first time cocktail fruit
Hi Jessika! Yes, that is the actual recipe. We find that with the undrained fruit cocktail, it has enough liquid to bake well! Keep us updated on how they turned out!
Hi there!
So, being new to the friendship bread world I decided to use this recipe. I think some ingredients were left out (like the liquid) so I pretty much winged it. It’s in the oven now so we shall see. I would love to know what the recipe actually calls for, for comparison 🤣
LOL, hi Tami! This is actually the recipe, believe it or not! How did yours turn out? I mentioned that it’s a lot like an angel food cake so it’s less like a quick loaf and more like a cake. The one variable is the amount of syrup you decide to use — I had it as “drained” and then changed it to “undrained” but I’ve always had the note in the recipe card that mentions this. Keep us posted!
Considering that I added 2 eggs, and 1 cup of oil it actually turned out great! I used drained peaches which I used my food processor to chop up. So, I guess you could say it was a happy success. Now I need to make it again using the recipe lol
Made a double batch… Yielded 24 cupcakes and 3 loaves… everybody loved them…gone in 3 hours.
Hi Letha! So glad this recipe turned out for you!
For the loaf pans, do you bake at 350 for 30 minutes or does that need to be extended?
Hi Jen! Here’s a great post for converting the recipe baking times depending on what pan you’re using: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/conversion-tables/