Moist Cake Mixes and Fluffy Icing

I recoginize that cake mixes and icing in a can goes against the grain of traditional cooks and talented chefs, but the Sundancer ain't that good.

I started buying the moist cakes and fluffy icing. I can make it in a few minutes and the family really likes it. It seems the cake is like pudding and the icing is as light as a feather.

I have learned to add ingredients to them such as apple sauce, berries, nuts and even other cake mixes to produce some neopolitan effects.

I love the strawberry fluff, chocolate fluff and their pure white fluff always gets them happy.

Unfortunately due to the Atkins crap, I ain't done it in 23 days.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I miss like mad, the old Butter Brickle Cake mixes and icing.....and why in the hell did they discontinue them anyway????I still...to this day....every grocery store I enter, whereever I might be....look for it or a reasonable facsimile of...Can't remember if Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker made it, but pretty sure it was BC......if anyone ever finds such or similar......I will give you my house for it

What's your favorite dress-up for a mix? I love Sock It To Me Cake.

German chocolat cake mix, made with the icing mixed into the batter, it's cooked in a bundt pan & is really moist.

Elise, what is Sock It To Me Cake???

Oh, sorry, there are some things we just forget aren't universal. It's similar to 7-up cake, and can be found at most soul food places around Los Angeles. Try it...it's so easy and delicious.

SOCK-IT-TO-ME CAKE


1 box yellow cake mix

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup oil

1/4 cup water

4 eggs

1/4 cup sugar


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Mix 2 tablespoons of the cake mix with cinnamon, brown sugar and pecans. Set aside.

In a large bowl, blend cake mix, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and sugar. Beat on high
speed for 2 minutes.

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the bundt pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture onto the
batter, avoiding the sides of the pan.

Spread the rest of the batter evenly into the pan, covering the brown sugar mixture.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan for 25 minutes.

Set a large plate over the bundt pan and carefully flip cake over. Drizzle with glaze.

GLAZE:
1 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons milk
Blend powdered sugar and milk together until smooth.

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

I miss like mad, the old Butter Brickle Cake mixes and icing.....and why in the hell did they discontinue them anyway????I still...to this day....every grocery store I enter, whereever I might be....look for it or a reasonable facsimile of...Can't remember if Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker made it, but pretty sure it was BC......if anyone ever finds such or similar......I will give you my house for it

REDTRESSED: The following comes from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 19,2001. Article by Raenne Sarzen.

"Betty Crocker discontinued its butter brickle cake mix and frosting mix in 1990, but fans can recreate the flavors. General Mills, which manufactured the mixes, suggested using its yellow, butter yellow, golden vanilla or French vanilla cake mix and folding in 1/2 cup of butter brickle pieces.

You can make the cake mix according to the package instructions or follow suggestion from Anne Byrn, author of "The Cake Mix Doctor". She recommends using melted butter instead of oil and adding flavoring extract, such as vanilla, to hide the "cake mix flavor". We did both, and the tricks were effective.

General Mills didn't have a solution for duplicating the frosting, so we've provided a delicious alternative.

BUTTER BRICKLE CAKE

1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow or white cake mix
1 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond toffee baking bits (Can use Heath brand toffee bits.)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) nonstick cake pans.

Place cake mix, milk, butter, eggs and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer. Beat on Medium speed 3 minutes. Toss toffee bits with flour in small dish; fold into cake batter. Divide batter between pans. Smooth tops with rubber spatula. Bake until set and cake springs back lightly when touched in center, about 30 minutes. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run knife around pan edges. Remove from pans; let cool completely before frosting.

WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING

2 Tbsp cold water
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 cups cold whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup crushed almond toffee baking bits (Can use Heath brand toffee bits.)
1 (8 ounce) pkg. milk chocolate toffe bits, optional

Refrigerate bowl of electric mixer and beaters about 15 minutes.

Pour water in glass measuring cup; sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand 2 minutes.

Microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly. Let stand until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Beat cream and sugar in bowl of electric mixer on medium speed. As cream just begins to thicken, add cooled gelatin mixture. Beat until cream is thickened. Beat in vanilla extract. Fold in crushed toffee.

Split cake layers in half horizontally, using serrated knife. Place 1 layer, cut side up, on serving platter. Brush off crumbs. Spread layer with 1/4-inch layer of frosting. Top with another layer. Repeat with remaining frosting and layers. Frost top and sides of cake. Garnish sides of cake with milk chocolate toffee bits.

Serves 14.

Elise, I'm gonna try it this weekend, thanks!

This was always a favorite in the ICU nurses lounge. It makes a gooey, cream-cheesy brownie like treat.




Earthquake Cake


Ingredients:
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
1/2 cup margarine
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 (1 lb) powdered sugar

Instructions:
Grease 9x13 cake pan. Cover bottom of pan with nuts and coconut. Mix cake as directed on package. Pour cake batter over nuts and coconut. Mix margarine and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Spoon over the cake batter. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cool completely, cut and eat!


Edited to add that you really don't spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter, you just kind of dollop it on in spoonfuls.

quote:

Originally posted by ocdreamer:

German chocolat cake mix, made with the icing mixed into the batter, it's cooked in a bundt pan & is really moist.

I had some of this cake not long ago, and you are right..it's very moist, and really good. They had also added some chopped pecans to what I had..we're gonna try it with black walnuts. This is definitely a cake mix concoction that's worth making.

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

This was always a favorite in the ICU nurses lounge. It makes a gooey, cream-cheesy brownie like treat.




Earthquake Cake


Ingredients:
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
1 German Chocolate Cake Mix
1/2 cup margarine
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 (1 lb) powdered sugar

Instructions:
Grease 9x13 cake pan. Cover bottom of pan with nuts and coconut. Mix cake as directed on package. Pour cake batter over nuts and coconut. Mix margarine and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix well. Spoon over the cake batter. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cool completely, cut and eat!


Edited to add that you really don't spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the batter, you just kind of dollop it on in spoonfuls.

Oh my God! Chocolate and cream cheese cake! Do you think the boys will freak out if I start a PMS thread?

PS. can you use butter instead of margarine?

I would think you can substitute butter for the margarine, I can't remember if I have made it that way or not....

Be prepared to eat the whole thing by yourself, it is a tool of the devil.

you're my heroine , KimChee..ty ty ty ty ty ty ty

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Oh my God! Chocolate and cream cheese cake! Do you think the boys will freak out if I start a PMS thread?

No problem Elise. Frankly, on line might be the best way to deal with a chocolate crazed woman, if no the best for sure the safest.

"Chocolate Crazed Women" would be an excellent name for a grrrrlll band

My boyfriend knows to set down a pint of Ben & Jerry's and slowly back out of the room. No sudden moves. But I usually just lock myself away to watch La Traviata in the dark. That wipes me out emotionally, so I can rejoin the world spent but unarmed.

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

you're my heroine , KimChee..ty ty ty ty ty ty ty

Glad I could be of help, Redtressed! Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

I miss like mad, the old Butter Brickle Cake mixes and icing.....and why in the hell did they discontinue them anyway????I still...to this day....every grocery store I enter, whereever I might be....look for it or a reasonable facsimile of...Can't remember if Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker made it, but pretty sure it was BC......if anyone ever finds such or similar......I will give you my house for it

Hey, I want to know when you are going to deliver the deed to your house to Kimchee........want to be there for the event and have a piece of that cake

lolol.....well...anytime she wants it. It's a big old Victorian with l8 rooms and I'm sure not able to afford to heat it fully in the winter, so I shut part of it off and make a cozy few rooms for my little guy and I.(Tis actually the house I grew up in)

As for the cake, made it today......and me being me, did just a wee bit of tweaking. First off....instead of just whole milk.........I used half sweetened condensed milk and half brewed hazelnut coffee, which put in the slightly toffee'd taste of the original cake, that much more perfectly.....in fact better than the original. I did the same for the frosting , substituting cold hazelnut for the two tsp of cold water, with great results . Again thank you so much.

Tell you what.....since there's plenty of room here and a big yard...we'll just have a roadfood weekend sometime and have a huge slumber party for the weekend and go munch out in Pittsburgh and Amish Country and the great Italian places. Lots of couches and floors and 7 bedrooms.....and stairs can even be used on the landings

quote:

Originally posted by redtressed

lolol.....well...anytime she wants it. It's a big old Victorian with l8 rooms and I'm sure not able to afford to heat it fully in the winter, so I shut part of it off and make a cozy few rooms for my little guy and I.(Tis actually the house I grew up in)

As for the cake, made it today......and me being me, did just a wee bit of tweaking. First off....instead of just whole milk.........I used half sweetened condensed milk and half brewed hazelnut coffee, which put in the slightly toffee'd taste of the original cake, that much more perfectly.....in fact better than the original. I did the same for the frosting , substituting cold hazelnut for the two tsp of cold water, with great results . Again thank you so much.

Tell you what.....since there's plenty of room here and a big yard...we'll just have a roadfood weekend sometime and have a huge slumber party for the weekend and go munch out in Pittsburgh and Amish Country and the great Italian places. Lots of couches and floors and 7 bedrooms.....and stairs can even be used on the landings

Sounds gorgeous. Is it haunted?

As for the haunted.....I sure could of sworn so , as a kid. My bedroom was the only bedroom on the first floor here.Originally I had one upstairs with all the others, but I decided to move downstairs to conquer my fear of the dark. The house being about l00 years old at that time, and comprised of oak tongue in groove flooring, had it's share of creaks and moans, but nothing measured up to the occasional cacaphony over head in the middle of the night.
I'd be fast asleep, then next thing I knew I'd be hiding under the bed.......listening to the sounds of chains being dragged across the floor and what I was sure was a severed head bouncing around. This went on several years with great regularity, but I was too proud to admit my fear, and just lived with it. It wasn't until I was a little older that I divined exactly what I was hearing. My parents' bedroom was directly over mine, as it worked out and ermmmm their bed was on 4 rollers for ease of making the bed...which rested in a corner..soooooooooo these nocturnal hauntings were not of the other world.......but were still damn scary to think of MY parents doing THAT over my head.........sheesh.

The house could be gorgeous....it's a frame style with a huge wrap around porch. Unfortunately, my parents succumbed to the pressure of aluminum siding in the 70's and even more unfortunately white with a rotten avocado color. The inside however has beautiful red oak floor, winding staircase, wainscoting , transoms and all doors, as well as several built in bookcases, china cabinets and a huge sliding parlor door. I'm slowly getting off old paint where the oak had been painted but it's a longgggggggggggg process.

Redtressed, sounds lovely, except for the siding, you're right on that one. Curious: do you have pocket doors? My old Victorian did and they were beautiful. OK, we're getting off the subject here. Soooooooooo, I did make the SOCK-IT-TO-ME cake and everyone loved it. I will try it again during ski season so it'll all go in one day and I won't have to eat the left-overs.

I love fresh carrot cake with the sour cream frosting. I have a friend who makes this and she always seems to use the sweetest carrots, (or knows how to make it taste like)
The sour cream frosting is wonderful.

Oh, the whipped cream cake at jerry's deli is good too!! Loads of real whipped cream between the chocolate layers, then, the chocolate icing on top.

Wow, I gotta have desert tonight!

Another quick thought:
Fannie Farmers Pineapple Upside down cake recipe is really good. Serve it with a lot of whipped cream

Redtressed: Yeah, I'm not sure which cause for creaking is scarier!

Llechef...leftovers? What are those?

I used the Duncan Hines Pineapple cake mix last weekend and made a Pineapple upside down cake and it was really good. The recipe for using the cake mix to make the upside down cake is on the side of the box. You use melted margarine, brown sugar and pineapple to place in the bottom the pan before you add the cake mix. I also used the juice that I drained from my pineapple for part of my liquid in the mix. I don't like maraschino cherries so I didn't use those as called for. Also, I happened to have pineapple tidbits instead of slices-I think they worked even better than the slices.