Awesome Texas Tornado Cake

What a delicious and easy sheet cake to make! Texas Tornado Cake is made with a can of fruit cocktail in the batter, then before you bake the cake you sprinkle a streusel topping with nuts over the top. After the cake comes out of the oven you add a boiled coconut topping and pour it on the cake while hot. Oh, soooo scrumptious! This wonderfully quick and easy recipe is also quite economical as you get 15 or so servings out of the cake for less than $10. If you have coconut and nuts on hand all the time like I do, it will cost even less. I was trying to use up some half-and-half in my refrigerator and I even had a can of fruit cocktail in my pantry so I didn’t need to go to the store for any ingredients when I made this tasty cake recipe.
Years ago, in the early 1980s when our children were infants, Sandi Weikel brought this cake to a Sunday school fellowship our class  was having. Granted, I have a sweet anyway so it’s rare when I don’t like something sweet, but I took one bite of this sweet cake and knew I had to have the recipe. I have made this recipe so many times over the years for two basic reasons–okay, three! 1) I almost always have all the ingredients on hand so I can make it on the fly. 2) It really is so inexpensive to make. 3) It tastes great!  I love all the peaches and pears in the fruit cocktail. I love coconut. I love walnuts or pecans (any kind of nut for that matter), so this has always been a win-win for me. It’s a win-win for my husband, too, because he hates dry desserts, and quite frankly, he rarely touches any dessert that doesn’t have fruit in it. He would much rather eat a dessert with fruit than chocolate. (Go figure!) So this tasty cake recipe has been on our “to-make” list lots of times over the years.
I’m not sure how the recipe got it’s name. The Weikels and our family were both living in Florida at the time and neither of us had ever been to Texas! I assume that Sandy got this recipe from her mom and it was passed down in some way. The cake doesn’t actually look like a tornado hit it (at least I don’t think it does!) Be that as it may, I present to you Texas Tornado Cake–lovely, delicious, moist, and sumptuous.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy dessert for your family, Texas Tornado Cake should top your list! It’s really a fabulous recipe. Dollop some vanilla or Snickerdoodle Ice Cream over the top and you will be in seventh heaven! You and your family will savor each mouthful, all the while vanilla ice cream dribbles down your chin!

Texas Tornado Cake is so moist and delicious!

This side view shows how ooey and gooey the cake is on the inside. It’s wonderful!

Texas Tornado Cake is just heavenly! We’ve always loved the fruitiness of this delicious cake.

Texas Tornado Cake is so quick and easy to make. You don’t have to spend a lot of time piping frosting over the top. You can whip this cake up without a lot of effort! All the fruit, nuts and coconut topping make this one enjoyable dining experience!

Here’s what I did.

Source: http://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2013/09/06/texas-tornado-cake/