GRAHAM CRACKER CAKE

See UPDATE below.

This is another recipe that was in Joanne Fluke's novel Blackberry Pie Murder. It intrigued me since it used graham cracker crumbs in place of flour. I loved the taste! I took it to Hillcrest Thrift Shop to share with the other volunteers on Tuesday. Mark said it was good as always. Dana came by the register to tell me she really liked it.

GRAHAM CRACKER CAKE

1/2       cup salted butter, softened (1 stick)
3/4      cup granulated sugar
1           teaspoon vanilla extract
2          large eggs
2          teaspoons baking powder
1/4       teaspoon salt
2-1/4   cups graham cracker crumbs
1           cup milk
1           cup chopped nuts

**********

8           oz. can crushed pineapple with juice
1/4        cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 - inch square baking pan with a non-stick cooking spray with flour or grease and flour the pan.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter (heat for 20 seconds in microwave) and the sugar, adding the sugar gradually with the mixer on medium speed.

Add vanilla extract and mix it in thoroughly.

Beat in eggs well, one at a time, beating well before adding the second one.

Add the baking powder and salt, beating until they are thoroughly mixed

TIP! Easy to crush graham crackers by placing whole crackers in ziplock bag and crushing with a rolling pin.






Mix in half of the cracker crumbs with half of the milk. Beat well. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Mix in the rest of the crumbs with the rest of the milk, mixing well.

Add the nuts, once again scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour the batter into pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Take the cake out of the oven, and place the cake on a wire rack.





Prepare the topping.

In a saucepan combine the crushed pineapple with juice with the sugar.

Cook the mixture over medium high heat, stirring constantly until it boils.

Reduce heat to low and continue to cook the mixture 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the topping over the hot cake spreading evenly with spatula. Cool in pan.

If desired, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. (I served it without and had no complaints.)




UPDATE!!

A reader, Curious Q, asked me this weekend if you could use a different topping because she didn't like pineapple. You can read my reply in the comments. Yesterday, I decided to make the cake again and to try a different topping. I was going to use fresh apples but since I had a can of apple pie filling, I decided to take the faster route and used it instead. Here is what I did.

I took 1 cup of the pie filling (about half of the can) and chopped the apples up into smaller pieces about the size of the crushed pineapple. I heated the filling in the microwave until hot, about 3 minutes total. I would heat it for 30 seconds or a minute. I would then take it out and check it. I stirred it and put it back in until it was hot.

Since with the original recipe you started "cooking" the pineapple when you took the cake out of the oven and cooked it 10 minutes, I decided to wait 10 minutes after I took the cake out of the oven to spread the hot pie filling on top.

Just as I suspected, it worked wonderfully. I used walnuts this time instead of pecans but it really doesn't matter. The cake tastes so good that even a simple frosting would taste great on it.

After I got through walking 2 miles at the Y this morning, I surprised my dental friends with four pieces. They were very excited and pleased to get some.





Thanks again CQ for your question.