Stained Glass Cake

And now, the post some of you have been waiting for...

Wednesday was my husband’s birthday. Happy birthday, buddy! When he first laid eyes upon this recipe, he immediately declared, “That’s what I want for my birthday cake.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “It doesn’t even have chocolate in it.” He replied, “It looks fruity and light. That’s what I want.”

Okay. No chocolate for me.

News about this cake spread before the birthday celebration, creating an air of anticipation prior to the unveiling. I was worried about the cake sticking to the springform pan, so I let the birthday man have the honor (and the risk) of unmolding and slicing. The springform ring came off just fine, but it was a little tricky transferring the slices to plates. And the taste? Well, I'm not a big fan of Jell-O, and it certainly wasn't chocolate, but it was tasty. I think it was well received by all in attendance.

A few notes:

-Rather than purchase a can of pineapple juice, I opted to buy pineapple chunks in natural juice. It was about the same price, contained the exact amount of juice necessary, and I got to enjoy some delicious pineapple chunks, too. Mmmm… nature’s candy.

-I was somewhat distracted when preparing the crust and accidentally put ¾ cup sugar in the crust, rather than ¼ cup. It still worked out just fine and I don't think anybody noticed. Until right about now. Whoops, the secret is out.

-9 crackers, crushed, equaled 1 ½ cups of crumbs for me.

Stained Glass Cake

From Cook's Country, June/July 2009

12 graham crackers, crushed to fine crumbs (about 1 ½ cups)

¾ cup sugar, divided

5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

3 (3 ounce) boxes Jell-O

4 ½ cups boiling water

¾ cup pineapple juice

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Stir cracker crumbs, ¼ sugar, and butter in bowl until crumbs resemble wet sand. Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan and bake until edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling: In 3 separate large bowls, whisk each box Jell-O with 1 ½ cups boiling water until dissolved. Pour into 3 loaf pans or pie plates (I used cake pans) and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. Once set, cut into ½-inch cubes and keep chilled. Combine ¼ cup pineapple juice and unflavored gelatin in bowl. Microwave, stirring occasionally, until dissolved, 1 to 3 minutes. Slowly whisk in remaining pineapple juice. With electric stand mixer set on medium-high, whip cream, vanilla, salt, and remaining sugar until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add juice mixture until combined. Gently fold Jell-O cubes into cream mixture. Scrape into prepared pan and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Whoa, sunshine!

I recently learned that my blog has somewhat of a following among my husband’s family. Thanks for reading!