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The email that included this two-page spread of cake-casserole recipes said, “For the ‘Cake Casseroles’ I was thinking the prune one, of course.”

serving-prune

OF COURSE. Although the fruit cocktail one looks pretty scary, too…

Prune Casserole – Mid-Century Recipe Guest Test Sunday
Author: Betty Crocker (1958)
Ingredients
  • Cake Casserole
  • 1 box Honey Spice Cake Mix
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups prunes
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • Hot Lemon Sauce
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp. cornstarch
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp. grated lemon rind
Instructions
  1. Pour cake mix batter into greased and floured 13×9½x2″ pan or shallow 3-qt. casserole. Sprinkle 1½ to 2 cups uncooked cup-up prunes over batter. Mix ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup brown sugar (packed), ½ tsp. nutmeg, and ½ tsp. cinnamon with 2 cups boiling water. Pour over batter and prunes. Do not stir. Bake 45 to 55 min. at 350°.
  2. Serve with hot Lemon Sauce: Mix 1 cup sugar and 2 tbsp. cornstarch. Gradually add 2 cups boiling water. Boil 1 min. Add 4 tbsp. butter, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 tbsp. grated lemon rind. 15 to 18 servings.
3.2.1275

recipe-cakecasseroles

It’s easy enough making a boxed cake mix, and even sprinkling dried fruit on top isn’t totally ridiculous.

liquid

But pouring sugary, spiced water over the top? WHAT. IS. THIS.

sideview

There’s a good half-inch of liquid on top of this cake.

sludge

And it looks like a toxic waste spill.

baked

Even though all that terrifying sludge has mysteriously disappeared after baking, I was having a hard time shaking the memory. It must have gone somewhere.

But that’s ok, because I just serve the food and let somebody else be the guinea pig. Oh, Buuuu-uuuuuzz…

tasting-pruney

“Why are you wearing your brainstorm shirt?”

“I figured they look like wrinkly prunes.”

Yeah, we can’t come up with brilliant costumes for everything.

tasting-bite

So how does it taste?

tasting-glrk

“Oh, man, this is really boring.”

“What? There are prunes and spices and lemon sauce everywhere!”

“It’s just… really bland if you aren’t eating the prunes.”

Verdict: Mediocre.

Tasting Notes:

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but it needed more prunes. The bottom half, with mushy soft spicy prunes, was surprisingly appealing — so use either twice the prunes, or half the cake batter. Plain spice cake just isn’t very interesting, and bites without sauce and fruit are really dull.

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