The Observer Newspapers | These Recipes 'Take the Cake'

April 10, 2008

These Recipes 'Take the Cake'
Have you ever been invited over to someone's house for dinner and volunteered to take a dessert? Or do you need a very special birthday or anniversary cake? Are you planning on going to a potluck dinner? No matter the event, we have a cake for you. Without a doubt, Joy Hayden's Eclair Cake is my family's most loved cake because the recipe makes two cakes-one that you can take to a potluck and another to feed the family when you return home and find out they did not get any at the potluck because it was all gone. Here are some of my most requested cake recipes.

Jo Ann's Hot Fudge Cake
1 cup water
1 stick margarine
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup Crisco
2 cups Wondra flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Bring water, margarine, cocoa and Crisco to a boil in a saucepan. Pour over the flour and sugar, and mix well. Beat in eggs, and add buttermilk, soda, and vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured cake pan and bake at 350-400 degrees for 20 minutes. Prepare the icing while the cake is baking, because you put it on while the cake is hot.
Frosting
1 stick margarine
6 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1 box confectioner's sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla
Bring the margarine, milk and cocoa to a boil for a short time. Remove from heat and mix with 1 box confectioner's sugar. Add nuts and vanilla, and pour over cake as it comes from the oven. Serve this cake warm with vanilla ice cream, or chilled. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Mary Jo's Cake
1 box any chocolate cake mix
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 (8-oz.) pkg. chocolate chips
Prepare the cake mix batter as directed on the package, and pour into two 9-inch cake pans greased and floured. Cream the cream cheese, sugar and egg together until smooth, and drop by teaspoonfuls into the batter in the pans. Then sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the two pans of batter. Do not stir batter. Bake as directed on cake mix box. Cool and frost with your favorite chocolate frosting. (The chocolate chips make a layer of fudge across the cake that your guests will ask about!)

Susan's Moist Mint Chip Pound Cake
1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1 large pkg. instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
12 oz. chocolate mint chips (Wegman's has them; one 10 oz. bag plus 2 more oz.)
Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer, except the mint chips. These chips can be hard to find. (You can substitute 12 oz. of Andes mints if you cannot find them.) Add chips by hand at the end. Pour into a greased and floured bundt or angel food cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes, until done. Allow to cool completely before taking out of the pan. Dust with powdered sugar and serve chilled.

Coconut Pound Cake
3 sticks of butter
3 cups of sugar
3 cups of flour
5 eggs
1 small can of evaporated milk (dilute to make 1 cup by adding water)
4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups coconut
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
Heat 2 Tbsp. of milk mixture in the microwave until warm. Cream butter and sugar together and add the heated milk. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Add rest of milk and flour and salt alternately. Fold in the coconut. Add flavorings, mix well, and pour into a well greased and floured large bundt pan, large tube pan, or angel food cake pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 to 1 1/4 hours (continue to test for doneness after 1 hour). Cool, slice and serve.

Ultimate Triple-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, slightly drained
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 lb. box confectioner's sugar
Mix all of the ingredients for the cake batter in the order given, mixing well after each addition. Pour into three round baking pans that have been greased and floured. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove and cool. While the cakes are baking, using an electric mixer, blend together all of the ingredients for the frosting. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Spread this between layers of the cake and around the sides. Chill until ready to serve.

Joy Hayden's Eclair Cake
1 cup boiling water
1 cup flour
1 stick margarine
4 eggs
Melt the butter in boiling water. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Let stand for five minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. Spread batter in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and an 8-inch square dish. Bake 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 small pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
5 cups milk
1 large Cool Whip container
Small can Hershey's syrup
Beat 1 cup milk and softened cream cheese for two minutes. Add pudding mix, and the rest of the milk. Beat on low for 2 minutes. Pour over cold pastry. Spread Cool Whip over top of the filling. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the top. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Black Bottom Cups
Filling
8 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
6 oz. chocolate chips
Batter
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream together filling ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa and salt together for batter ingredients. Then add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Fill cup cake liners 1/3 full with batter. Then drop a tablespoonful of filling in the middle. Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cool.