CHOC-O-LOTTA-LOTTA CAKE

In honor of A.J.’s recent birthday I am sharing my recipe for his favorite Birthday cake.

My first memory of A.J. being introduced to chocolate, post utero, was walking in the house to find Farm Boy sitting in the recliner feeding my precious little baby milk chocolate M&M’s. I saw A.J.’s mouth smeared with chocolate and heard his sweet little lips smack with shear baby bliss while he sucked chocolate M&M’s from between Daddy’s fingers.

A.J.’s in-utero chocolate experience began day one of conception , with a mid-night Chocolate Buffet Extravaganza aboard the ms Massdam, Holland America, cruise ship and most likely occurred every day of my pregnancy; as well as, his nursing days. The child did not stand a chance of disliking chocolate.

A.J.’s first word was Ma-Ma but shortly after he learned choc-o-loda-loda-loda.

We all adored hearing baby A.J. ask, in a deep raspy baby growl, for choc-o-loda-loda-loda. Sometimes he would get severely stuck on the lodas and say seven or eight of them. He was serious about his chocolate. Still is!

I made this cake for A.J. when he was two or three years old and he has continued to request it every year.

CHOC-O-LOTTA-LOTTA CAKE Recipe

Cake

1 Box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge, follow recipe except instead of water add 1 cup milk.

Bake according to the directions, cool. (Aldi’s sell a terrific inexpensive Baking Spray which, in my opinion, works better than Wilton’s Bake Release Spray.)

I use Wilton’s Bake Even Strips with my cake pans to eliminate high-rise centers, cracked tops and over-cooked edges. Just dampen the strips and wrap around the pan before baking. The moisture in the strips keeps the edges of the pan cooler for level and deliciously moist cakes—every time!

Frosting:

8 Hershey Candy bars, place these in the freezer while mixing the frosting. If the candy bars are room temperature they turn soft when you chop them in the blender.

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 (16 oz.) container whipped topping

1 cup powdered sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup Hershey’s Cocoa powder

(Keep 1 cup of mixed white frosting out of recipe before adding the cocoa to use for decorating the cake.)

Mix together

Take the candy bars out of the freezer and place 2 at a time in the blender or food processor.

Fold chopped candy bars into frosting and spread on the cake. This recipe is enough for frosting a 9” triple layer cake.

Chill frosted cake in refrigerator for 2 hours or more; or overnight. The frosting is delicious enough to eat by the spoonful like a thick mousse so if you have leftovers it will not go to waste.

Some years we pipe frosting around the edges and the bottom of the cake. You can also use extra chopped candy bar to put around the bottom edge and on top of the cake.