How To Make A Snack Cake

Last Edit December 23, 1999

I am writing a cookbook. With help. For those who want to cook, have failed at it (or been made to feel that they did) or have been afraid to try. And for my two sons. You can go a long way making omelets and broiling steaks. But it can be boring.

I am a fan of the "I Hate to Cook" book series - she has funny helpful hints. But she wrote this 26 years go.

Times change.

So do attitudes.

And the older you get, the less you put up with.

And the more tricks you know.

So I bought both of my sons the re-issued Betty Crocker 1950 Cookbook. My 1956 copy having died a natural death. And I got a new copy of Peg Bracken's the "Complete I Hate to Cook book". And I picked up the" Idiot's Guide to Cooking Basics" and " Help! My Apartment has a kitchen" To help me decide how I wanted to do this.

Easy rule.

Be my own crabby self.

I made a snack cake (see the shelf in the supermarket with the packaged cake mixes - the special chocolate dribbled over the top -- vanilla and chocolate Betty Crocker snack cakes are there) - used applesauce instead of margarine (learned this trick while cooking for the ICBINB contest - looked at lowering the fat) and ate a large chunk (of the snack cake - not the margarine).

Foolproof cooking if you can do it on drugs. Trust me. Nothing wrong with mixes. Especially after a root canal.

I was giving directions to someone who doesn't cook (was intimidated out of the kitchen by a set of circumstances I won't discuss). So I wrote down what I did. If I can cook under the influences of a root canal --- then she can cook too! For that matter, so can my sons. Time they learned to make something besides turkey stuffing.

The Mix

Betty Crocker SuperMoist Chocolate or Vanilla Cake Mix "Creamy Swirls of Fudge" with the picture of the Hershey's FUDGE FILLING dripping on the package and 8x8 pan size displayed on the front. A big "NEW" is on the upper right-hand side of the package.

Well, this will work with other mixes too. You'd have to add your own filling packet. Hershey's chocolate syrup? I haven't tried that yet. Of course the syrup is fat-free. I'll have to think about it.

Prepare the pan

Trick - use Canola oil (1 teaspoon) rub all over an 8" square glass or metal cake pan. Sprinkle with SUGAR - not flour. Make sure you can't see any glass on the bottom. Especially if you are using a metal pan.

Heat the oven to 350.

Mix the cake mix packet (the large one is the cake mix - they are labeled) with 1/2C water, 1/2 C applesauce, 1 Tablespoon Canola Oil (do NOT use a substitute - Canola Oil is GOOD for your heart), and 2 eggs (preferably taken out of their shells).

Mix it up well (beat with a mixer if you can manage that - I sometimes cannot - especially on drugs) (beating makes a finer texture, supposedly) and pour in the sugared cake pan.

Warm up by holding in your hand, shoving down your bra or holding under warm water, the UNOPENED chocolate pak. Do NOT sit on it - it will break. (My friend sits on things.)

Cut off a corner where it says to, with scissors. Dribble chocolate over the top of the batter. If it is not warm enough - you will get a thick band of chocolate, which will sink into the cake. That's OK too as it will rest on the sugar at the bottom. Drag a table knife through it and make pretty swirling patterns - just not too much as it will start to blend into the batter. These swirling patterns can become pretty interesting when on Codeine.

Bake at 350 until it "springs back" when touched. This means you can't see where you touched it.

Do NOT poke your finger into it - unless you can't wait for the chocolate - but then you might get burned.

A toothpick in the center works too if you don't hit chocolate. A toothpick stuck in the batter will be dry if the cake is done. If the sides are pulling away from the pan or smoke is issuing from the oven, you've baked it too long. There is cooking time information on the package. About 30-40 minutes.

Try this. Tell me what happens! Is this a good format for recipes?

Or is it too, too over the top?