Oh, sure, I make cakes from scratch, too. Some of those recipes are wonderful and worth the little extra effort. But the boxed cake mix makes life so much easier when you need a dish in a hurry.
What's more, there are so many ways to spruce up a boxed mix to make it extra special. When I was young, my mom made something she called "poppyseed bread." There was nothing "bread" about it; it was cake, pure and simple. It started with a box of yellow cake mix, some coconut instant pudding, and a mess of poppyseeds. I could eat a whole loaf in a single sitting.
Recently, I attended a birthday party (sort of a grown-up slumber party: a handful of girlfriends, take-out pizza, some schlocky chick flicks, and CAKE). I chose this cake for a couple of reasons: (1) it was fast to whip together; (2) I had a bottle of Irish cream liqueur in my pantry, and I'm not much of a drinker; and (3) it looked so, so good.
Dang, it was awesome. The crumb is dense and moist, almost fudgy. The Irish cream in the cake itself is just a subtle note, but the liqueur in the buttercream gives it just the right depth of flavor, that heady hint of whiskey and a finish reminiscent of good French roast. Yum.
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| Delicious, dense, fudgy cake! |
As an added bonus, I got the recipe from the Betty Crocker website (in the interest of time and tidiness, I left off the chocolate glaze and it was still heavenly). It was such a hit, I think I'll be perusing the company's website for more delicious dishes I can whip up in a pinch.
What about you? What's your favorite convenience food? Or are you a "strictly from scratch" person?
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| Simple, ingredients |
1 box devil's food cake mix
1 box (4 serving size) chocolate instant pudding
4 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 c. Irish cream liqueur
1/3 c. oil
Irish Buttercream
1 c. softened butter
4 oz. softened cream cheese
3 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. Irish cream liqueur
1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350; spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray.
Combine all cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mixing until well-combined. Divide batter between pans and bake 35 - 45 minutes (until tester inserted near center comes out clean). Cool 10 minutes on wire rack, then remove cake from pans and cool completely.
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| Sour cream creates a silky batter |
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| For pretty frosting, start with a thin "crumb coat", refrigerate for 30 minutes, and then use the rest of the frosting. This keeps the crumbs from popping through and leaves the finished cake pristine! |
Place one cake on a platter and top with 1/3 of the frosting. Top with second cake and use remaining frosting to cover top and sides. Chill until ready to serve.
