Gift Cake

A novelty birthday cake decorated to look like a wrapped present, ribbon and all. The base is a doctored yellow cake mix boosted with instant pudding and a cup and a half of coconut folded into the batter, which bumps a box mix into something richer, denser, and far more bakery-worthy than the package directions allow.

Pudding-in-the-mix is the old-school shortcut trick. The cornstarch in the pudding holds extra moisture during the bake, so the finished cake stays tender for days without going dry or crumbly. Four eggs and a quarter cup of oil give the batter a full four-minute beat on medium speed to work in air.

Once cooled, the 13×9 rectangle gets sliced in half lengthwise, filled with strawberry preserves and whipped topping, then frosted all around with more whipped topping. The fun bit is the “wrapping paper” decoration: coconut tinted with food coloring gets pressed onto the sides and top, and flattened gumdrops rolled into strips form the ribbon and bow across the top. Pure crowd-pleaser for birthdays, baby showers, or any party where the cake needs to double as the centerpiece.

Kitchen Tips

• Tint coconut in a zip-top bag. A few drops of food coloring diluted with a teaspoon of water, shake until evenly colored, and you avoid stained fingers.
• Chill the filled cake layer 30 minutes before frosting. Cold layers don’t slide, which matters when you’re working with soft whipped topping.
• Flatten gumdrops between two sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin, then cut into strips with a sharp knife.
• Assemble day-of, not day-ahead. Whipped topping weeps and coconut goes soggy overnight.

Variations

• Use raspberry or apricot preserves in place of strawberry.
• Swap yellow cake mix for chocolate and use chocolate pudding for a cocoa gift cake.
• Skip the gumdrop bow and use a wide fondant or ribbon-style buttercream border instead.