Ding Dong Cake

Homemade Ding Dong Cake

Recipe adapted from Cakes by Courtney

Dark Chocolate Cake

*1 cup Buttermilk, room temperature

*1 cup Hot Water

*1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

*3 large Eggs, room temperature

*1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*1 and 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar

*1 and 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour

*3/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder or Jet Black Cocoa Powder

*1 teaspoon Kosher Salt or Sea Salt

*2 teaspoons Baking Soda

*3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

Instructions for Cake:

*Preheat oven 325*F.

*2 Round 8–inch Cake Baking Pans, sprayed with cooking spray and parchment paper. Set aside.

Wet Ingredients:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, on medium-low speed, mix the Buttermilk, water, oil, vanilla and add 1 egg at a time and mixing until combined. Then gradually add the sugar until incorporated.

Dry Ingredients:

In a bowl sift together: Flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer with the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until all the dry mixture is incorporated, scrap down the sides as needed.

Evenly divide the batter in the two prepared baking pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or toothpick test, pock in the middle of cake and toothpick comes out clean or the center springs back when center is touched.

Cool in pans for 15 minutes only. Then remove cake from the pans and allow to cool completely on cooling rack.

Wrap cakes individually in plastic wrap and chill or freeze until ready to use. Note: Wrap cakes again with foil if using another day.

Level cakes by cutting off the tops with a leveling knife or serrated knife making tops flat, if needed when ready to decorate.

Decorating and Assemble Cake:

*Offset Spatula and Regular Spatula, for spreading ganache and filling

*Round Cake Plate or Cake Board

*Rotating Cake Stand for helping apply ganache, very helpful

Place bottom leveled cake, top side up, on your cake board or cake plate. Then add the filling, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick layer.

Place top leveled cake, top side down onto the filling.

Frost with a thin layer of the ganache to the sides, with the straight spatula, moving the cake stand with cake in a circle until sides are covered with the thin layer of ganache. Then with the offset spatula spread a thin layer to the top. Freeze cake for 15 minutes.

Remove from freezer and frost with the remaining ganache.

Store cake covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve, serve chilled.

Whipped Cream Filling

*Chill a Stainless Steel Bowl and Hand Mixer Whisk/Beaters, at least 15 minutes.

*3 tablespoons Cold Water

*1 tablespoon Unflavored Gelatin

*2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream, Cold, set 1/3 cup aside for heating

*1/2 cup powdered Sugar, sifted

*1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions for Cream Filling:

In a small bowl add the cold water and gelatin, stir until combined, set aside for 10 minutes to bloom.

In a sauce pan bring the 1/3 cup of cream to a simmer and then remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture. Cool in the fridge, stirring frequently for 5 to 7 minutes. Note: You don’t want the gelatin to set.

Now, using your chilled bowl and whisk/beater, beat/whip the remaining cream, slowly adding the powdered sugar and then add vanilla. Whip/beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Then add the gelatin mixture and continue whip/beating until medium firm peaks form when you lift up whisk/beaters.

Cover cream mixture and store in the fridge until ready to use.

Ganache/Frosting

*2 cups Dark Chocolate Chips, like Ghirardelli

*1 and 1/3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Instructions for Ganache/Frosting:

Heat the cream in microwave safe bowl until hot but not boiling or use a double boiler on the stove and heat on medium heat until hot.

Remove bowl of milk from heat and add the chocolate chips, allow to sit 1 to 2 minutes. Then stir until chocolate chips melt and ganache becomes smooth and silky consistency. Allow cooling before frosting cake.

Enjoy!

Lindy

Easy Pink Heart Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Recipe

*

Ingredients
:

*
*1/2 cup Butter

*1 cup Sugar

*1 teaspoon Vanilla

*1 Egg

*1/2 cup Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream, Sour Cream or Cream Cheese (I’ve used each one of these variation each gives the cookie a slightly different taste and they’re all yummy!) Note: If you use cream cheese use only 3 cups of flour

*3 and 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour, more if needed (Dough should be slightly sticky)

*1 teaspoon Soda

*1/2 teaspoon Salt

*Heart Cookie Cutter, the number of cookies this recipe makes will depend on the size of cookie cutter you use (2 to 3 Dozen)

*
In a stand mixer on medium-low speed cream together the butter and sugar. Then add the vanilla, egg and cream of your choice and mix just until combined.

*
Using Sifter, sift together in a bowl the flour soda and salt and slowly add to the creamed mixture, mixing on low just until barely combined. Dough should be slightly sticky. Do Not Over Mix!

*
Then divide the dough into 3 dough balls, flatten dough balls making disk shapes. Now wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or more.

*
Remove 1 dough disk at a time from the refrigerator and rollout disk on a floured surface with rolling-pin or use 2 pieces of plastic wrap, placing the dough disk in the center of 1 of the pieces of plastic wrap and the second piece on top of the dough disk, use rolling-pin and roll out the cookie dough about 1/2 inch thick.

*
Use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out shapes in the rolled out dough. Repeat for each dough disk. Then add to the next dough disk the scraps from the first disk or (discard scraps of dough), continue this technic until all the dough is used.
Place cookies on a Silpat covered half baking sheet, 12 cookies per sheet.  For best results refrigerate the cut cookies on baking sheet before baking 5-10 minutes.

*
Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 425* F. oven for 8-12 minutes or barely starting to turn golden on the bottom; baking time depends on the size of cookie cutter used. Do Not Over Bake! If you do over bake they will become to hard. Cool on baking sheet.

Recipe from Tested Recipes Cookbook, Central Milling Company third edition, now out of print an old family cookbook

Frosting

1/4 cup Cream Cheese (2 ounces)

2 and 1/4 sticks butter, almost room temperature

6 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons Heavy Whipping Cream

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

Pinch of sea salt or to taste

Food Coloring Pink

Directions:

In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat the butter and cream cheese 2 to 3 minutes until a light yellow color on medium speed.

Then gradually add powdered sugar alternate with whipping cream, mixing in on medium low speed.

Add vanilla and salt, taste and adjust as needed to your taste. Beat frosting another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove bowl from mixer and stir for a minute to remove air bubbles. Add pink food coloring drop at a time until desired color is achieved.

Also see Valentine Charcuterie Board Party

Enjoy!

Lindy