"Yes! We'd love to come to dinner!"

When people call me to let me know they are accepting an invitation to dinner at our house, they often follow the, "Yes, we'd love to come" with "What can we bring?"

Easy question. Often a difficult one to answer.

I have so many dinner parties, you'd think I would master the answer to this question. Instead I often stutter. Their offer is generous and so appreciated, but I often don't know what to say. Usually it's because I don't even know what kind of food I'm going to make yet, so it's hard for me to give them direction on something they could make or even what kind of wine to bring--red or white.

I now have my solution thanks to my buddy in Florida, Jim Gustafson. Jim and his wife Connie have started to tell people not to bring something for the dinner party but to bring something to be donated to the food pantry instead. The guests bring a food item to be donated, and Connie and Jim set it aside. When they have had a few parties and have enough foodstuffs, they take them to the local food pantry. The quick trip to the food pantry happens about once a month. The food pantry benefits, and everyone enjoys lovely dinners. This idea has caught on in Jim and Connie's network in Florida, and people are regularly dropping by the food pantry with their donations. Talk about a win-win! Try it. I bet your local food pantry would appreciate it too, and you get a nice dinner topped off with a warm feeling.

Today's recipe is a perfect cake for entertaining or for a birthday party. Be sure to save this recipe or pick it up later at my free website at www.dinnerwithzola.com because, topped off with a few jellybeans, you have yourself a beautiful cake for Easter!

Thank you to the many of you who have given me feedback on "Lean and Lively." You can be sure that I'll continue to come up with healthy entrees for your upcoming dinners. I love the fact that you have told me you're "sneaking" these healthy foods in front of your kids and they love them. Some of you have told me you're even serving them at dinner parties and the guests don't even know they are eating so healthy! Those are inspiring compliments, and they are great motivators for me! Keep those notes coming!

So here's one more splurge before we get back to "Lean and Lively" next week.

Coconut Cake with Pineapple Filling

The cake:
1 white or yellow cake mix (or use your favorite recipe for a 3 layer cake) plus the eggs, oil and water specified on the box
1 cup shredded coconut

The filling:
1 28-oz can crushed pineapple with the sweetened juice
1 Tbl cornstarch

Chantilly Swirl Frosting:
3 cups whipping cream
4 Tbl powdered sugar
1 tsp clear vanilla flavoring
Yellow food coloring
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Jellybeans (optional)

The cake:

Mix the cake according to the box directions. After it's mixed, stir in the shredded coconut. Now, instead of doing 2 layers you are going to bake 3 layers. Divide the cake batter evenly amongst 3 9-inch baking pans coated with baking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. If no batter sticks to your pick, the cake is done. Cool the cakes and then remove from the pans.

Filling:

Put the crushed pineapple in a medium saucepan. Sift the cornstarch on top and stir constantly on Medium heat until the cornstarch is fully incorporated. Turn the temperature up and continue to stir until the mixture starts to boil and thicken. Turn off and cool the mixture.

Assembling the cake:

Put one layer of your cake on a cake pedestal or platter. Spread half of the pineapple mixture on top. Top with a second cake layer and the other half of the pineapple mixture. Then invert the last cake layer and put it on top (bottom up).

The Frosting:

Whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy and stiff. Place 5 or 6 small drops of yellow food coloring in your bowl, dotted across the frosting (not all in one place). Take your spatula and swirl the food coloring through the frosting. Don't mix too much or your frosting will turn completely yellow instead of having a yellow swirl. If you go too far and end up with yellow frosting, that's fine too. It will be pretty either way. Now frost the top and sides of the cake. This is very easy because this is such a forgiving frosting. Just spoon it on and swirl the cream with the back of your spoon. Sprinkle on the coconut. You can concentrate on just the top of the cake or you can use more coconut and cover the sides too. Place your jellybeans on top so they look like eggs hidden on the lawn and then chill the cake.

You can make the cake up to a day ahead. Just keep it in the refrigerator. Take the cake out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you want to serve it. It will still be cold but the chill will have reduced and the cake will taste richer.

Enjoy!