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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The Most Delicious Chocolate Cake from a mix



Chocolate is my friend. It just takes you away to a magical land of happiness.
Ha! Just kidding. I'm usually happy without the aid of chocolate, but, it doesn't hurt.

God dreamed up chocolate for us women. We need it when those crazy cravings rear their ugly heads and nothing else will do. I have tried other candies and it is a useless waste of my money, my time, my energy, my gasoline, not to mention all those empty calories. Dark chocolate has antioxidants that fight cancer. How great is that?

My favorite and most loved by everyone, and most homemade tasting cake from a mix,  is Hersheys',Betty Crocker  "Butter Recipe Chocolate " cake mix; with pudding .
 I make the Hersheys' (magnificent) chocolate frosting from the back of the can.*** See the recipe at the end of this entry....( contact Betty and tell her to bring back that flavor cake mix .http://customerservicenumbers.com/listing.aspx?id=general-mills  and copy and paste the title of the cake mix  listed above when you click on the above mentioned link, leave a comment.

~Side note~
My favorite cake pan is the bundt, but, I also make the 9" round sometimes, too.
***

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Special note~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This is my baby.  I love her so much.  This is my Gift from God.  I had burned up e hand mixers and 1 stand mixer, because I bake for people alot.  I prayed for 6 or more months, that God would bless someone so much that they could buy me this one.....My Sister, Jan, had no idea that I even needed a newer mixer, but, she called me and said that God told her to bless me with this for Christmas, 3 years ago...She told me to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond....and that they were expecting me.  A nice lady gave me a coupon , and Kitchen Aid had it on sale, with a rebate....OMG. I got my socks blessed off .  I love my red mixer. She is so strong and good.  I love the free attachments I was able to get with the rebates.  I can slice potatoes thinly for potato chips, grate cheese in a flash....knead bread dough, gently mix up biscuit dough...and I now have a meat grinder and sausage stuffer......I plan to make some homemade "Boudin" ; it's a French type of sausage stuffed with ground pork, cooked rice, chpd. yellow onions, cut green onions and lots of tasty seasonings. 

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~ Insider tip~
You know how the cakes on the commercials always are taller than in real life, after using the mix....and forget using a tub of their icing to frost a 2 layer cake. It'd have to be a very small cake, to be able to cove it and have had an adequate amount of frosting to use between the layers. On the commercials, they use more than one box of cake mix and they make the layers thicker plus, they slather on the icing and you know that, from looking at the circumference of their cake, 1 tub of frosting would only cover one layer of their cake.

I once watched a documentary on "How" they fool the eye ( they, meaning the ad. agencies that create the  illusions ) when making commercials and they do things to make you feel like you have to have a piece of cake or a bowl of cereal, or some fruit or vegetables.....or a burger.....you get the idea.
It's called lust.

They increase the height and portion of the slice of cake, they spray oil, not water, on the veggies, they wax and polish the fruit, they use good old Elmers'  glue instead of milk, when shooting a scene or picture  of cereal and milk..."That way", they said, "the cereal doesn't get soggy and sink and the "milk" looks so rich and so white. For burger commercials, and steakhouse commercials, they use larger portions of meat than what you would actually get and they spray oil on it just before they shoot the commercial or picture. They said that " it is meant to make your mouth water"  and it does make it water.
 ***


~ My Secret ~
To the Betty Crocker  Hershey's "Butter Recipe Chocolate " cake mix, I always add 2 teaspoons of Pure Vanilla Extract and 1 regular size box of chocolate pudding, without increasing any  of the other ingredients listed and my cakes rise tall and bake up super moist and delicious. I adore my chocolate cake, but, I can only eat 1 or 2 pieces in a week, so I always send someone home with the remainder of the cake if there is any cake left. They are always happy and I am too because I don't have to waste a divine chocolate cake.
 I could freeze individual slices but, that would be too tempting, just knowing that it is as close as my freezer and as easy to thaw as just taking it out of my freezer.  

***

                                           .

~TIP~
***Tap the cake pan on the counter to release any air bubbles.



~TIP~
***I let my cake "rest" in the bundt pan for 10-20 minutes, then, I place a cake plate over it
      and flip it......Then, let it cool completely.   The hot cake has too much steam that needs to be released
      or the cake will be too heavy and collapse because of it.      If you don't let it cool completely, you will           experience one or both of these problems:  the cake will break and collapse and the frosting will melt  if        it  is  the least bit warm.  Trust me on this one.... I speak from experience .


   Here is the Hersheys' Fudge Icing   recipe:

                                                     1 bar butter, melted, but, not hot!
                                                     2/3 cup of cocoa
                                                     Mix well, til smooth and creamy.
                                                     Measure:
                                                     3 cups powdered sugar
                                                     1/3 cup Pet Evaporated Milk

                                                     Gradually add sugar and milk in 3rds,
                                                      alternating each of them.
                                                      Beat til smooth.
                                                      Add 1 teaspoon of Pure Vanilla Extract**
                                                      Beat to incorporate.
~SECRET~
***I always use 2 teaspoons***
I love Vanilla.
After the cake has cooled, frost it

~TIP~
***If you get the butter too hot and add the cocoa
too soon, it will seize up on you and become
clumpy. You can salvage it by adding all of your
milk and beating it a long time to make it creamy.

PS If this happens, you can just make it into
a "fudge" icing and "pour" it over your cake.
I have done this once or twice and it was
beautiful and tasted great. It just was not
a spreadable icing. ha!

~THOUGHT~
***Make a Chocolate Fudge Cake wi/Homemade Fudge
Icing Today for someone you Love. It will
make them feel special.

ps   I'm sorry that I don't have a pic of the frosted cake , maybe
next time I bake one.  
Tamar  


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