The Joys of Jell-O Gelatin: Orange Coconut Cake (1981)

Earlier this month I received an invitation for a dinner party hosted by my friends Tom and Kathleen.

When I asked what to bring, they said dessert. Since they were participants in my Easter Brunch featuring Smirnoff Jell-O Eggs, I decided to carry on the Jell-O theme and bake a Orange Coconut Cake from The Joys of Jello Gelatin (1981).

It’s a Trick with a Mix, as they say.

The trick is really just changing the color of the cake mix and coconut from white to orange.

To be all fancy, I put some canned Mandarins on top. (I used leftover Mandarin Orange segments from a not-yet-featured DiS1972 dinner).

Speaking of Mandarin Oranges–do you remember how prevalent the little tinned citrus is in the original Dinner Is Served 1972 series?

For years I’ve wondered why the little tinned citrus popped up all over the place. In over a half a dozen dinners. Was there a deal with the Mandarin Orange Growers of America?

A mystery for the ages!

But I digress. Here is the Orange Coconut Cake.

It was very sweet. But it was definitely not dry. The desiccated coconut gave it a nice bite. I honestly can’t tell you if the flavor at all was orange-y, but it looked pretty.

So, yes, I brought the dessert, but Tom and Kathleen went absolutely bonkers and prepared an veritable FEAST of Ethiopian delicacies.

They supplied the doro wat, the bebere seasoning, the Ethiopian cheese, the honey wine, the injera. It was enough food to feed 10 people.

It was excellent food. A truly impressive meal.

But the highlight for me was the tiny, toothless and clawless cat named Sasquatch, who could easily be a sister to my tiny, toothless, and clawless Margot.

They are lucky I did not leave the house with Sassy stuffed in my purse.

3 thoughts on “The Joys of Jell-O Gelatin: Orange Coconut Cake (1981)”

Your cake and the Ethiopian feast looked scrumptious! We didn’t have half the variety of fruits and vegetables in the stores back in the 70’s or 80’s as we do now, so I think canned fruits like mandarins and pineapple were the only way to indulge in more exotic fruits, hence their popularity in recipes. I mean I don’t think I even knew what a fresh pineapple tasted like until the 90’s. That said, I still like using canned mandarins in salads. That last sentence about Sassy made me guffaw, ha ha.

Beautiful cake and that Ethiopian meal looks absolutely scrumptious! I actually made #103 (I do occasionally make a DIS recipe) and found it pretty tasty, although I didn’t have French dressing, so I used my usual “Chinese chicken salad” dressing and that may have affected the outcome. (OMG, that was the weirdest, longest, comma-est sentence!)

That cake looks fabulous. And your dinner feast looks amazing! As a kid that grew up in the early 70’s, those canned mandarin oranges were a bit deal in my house. But fresh fruit besides bananas and some apples was hard to come by so my mother happily bought the canned oranges for a treat.

Paris B. May 25, 20231:51 pm Reply

Your cake and the Ethiopian feast looked scrumptious! We didn’t have half the variety of fruits and vegetables in the stores back in the 70’s or 80’s as we do now, so I think canned fruits like mandarins and pineapple were the only way to indulge in more exotic fruits, hence their popularity in recipes. I mean I don’t think I even knew what a fresh pineapple tasted like until the 90’s. That said, I still like using canned mandarins in salads. That last sentence about Sassy made me guffaw, ha ha.
Marty K May 25, 20232:50 am Reply

Beautiful cake and that Ethiopian meal looks absolutely scrumptious! I actually made #103 (I do occasionally make a DIS recipe) and found it pretty tasty, although I didn’t have French dressing, so I used my usual “Chinese chicken salad” dressing and that may have affected the outcome. (OMG, that was the weirdest, longest, comma-est sentence!)
Dianne May 24, 20238:17 pm Reply

That cake looks fabulous. And your dinner feast looks amazing! As a kid that grew up in the early 70’s, those canned mandarin oranges were a bit deal in my house. But fresh fruit besides bananas and some apples was hard to come by so my mother happily bought the canned oranges for a treat.