 |
Mike was out of town for all but one week of August, so Emma requested and I agreed that Saturday was the perfect time to repeat our business trip cake from last year. We made my Grandma’s tried and true hot water chocolate cake, and we even made the pudding from scratch this time (both recipes are below). I love covering cakes with pudding – besides being healthier, the less-sweet pudding brings out the natural sweetness of the cake. Lily napped through most of the festivities, but Emma and Johnny thoroughly enjoyed baking and eating this cake – and we even saved some for Mike, who (hooray!!!) returned late Saturday night.
There are a couple things that make this cake special. The cake recipe is an all-time favorite from my childhood, and using pudding in lieu of frosting cuts the sugar down while making it even easier for kids to decorate!
Hot Water Chocolate Cake
- ½ cup butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 cups flour
- ½ cup cocoa
- 2 tsp. soda
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter and sugar, then add the remaining ingredients in order of appearance. After batter is beaten add boiling water and vanilla. Grease pan well. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Corn Starch Pudding (not as good as egg yolk pudding, but easier to make!)
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp. corn starch
- 2 ½ cups milk
- Dash of salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Mix sugar and cornstarch. Add milk, salt and vanilla. Cook until thickened. Be careful of scorching. Serve hot or cold.
If you want to use the pudding to decorate the cake, spoon pudding into ziploc bags. Add food coloring and squish the bag gently to mix. Cut a small corner off the bag, and squeeze the pudding onto the cake.
|
I keep wondering what we will do for the “red” cake Nikki has requested and wants to help make for her birthday – this might be the solution!! Pudding topping… yummy and not too sweet. :)
.-= Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..mourning =-.
[Reply]
Thanks for this recipe Mary Anne, it sounds wonderful. The cake the kids made is adorable, I love the colors! Glad Mike made it back to y’all safely:-).
.-= Susana´s last blog ..Magic Tree House Knight at Dawn Unit Study =-.
[Reply]
Daddy coming home is always the best! No better way to celebrate than with a homemade cake. It looks delicious and Emma and Johnny seem to be thoroughly enjoying it!
.-= Ida´s last blog ..Appreciating Daddy =-.
[Reply]
The pudding topping sounds good. My girls have a sweet tooth but they’re not big on frosting.
.-= Quadmama´s last blog ..Bookworms =-.
[Reply]
beautiful cake! The kids look so pleased with themselves.
[Reply]
Hmmmm. Now what’s something jeff would enjoy for all his pong hours recently
[Reply]
That cake sounds great. I have never thought about topping a cake with pudding – great idea!
.-= Christy´s last blog ..Sun Bread =-.
[Reply]
Looks good to me! We haven’t seen much of Shawn this month either- I think a cake may be in order here too!!!!!
[Reply]
That’s so sweet! I always love a new recipe to try!
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Weekending =-.
[Reply]
Thanks! We’re all very happy to have Mike home, and the kids loved their cake =)
[Reply]
That does sound yummy!
.-= Our Nifty Notebook´s last blog ..Whatever You Need =-.
[Reply]
I am so behind on trying out new recipes, but I think I’d really like making this – ok, and EATING it, too!
.-= Suzy´s last blog ..The goods =-.
[Reply]
Great tradition. I am glad that Mike is home – I can’t imagine holding the fort with three little kids :)
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..Computer Math Or Genie Who Was Let Out of the Bottle =-.
[Reply]
@Natalie – Bedtime is the worst… I’m very glad he’s home, and he only has one trip in September!
[Reply]
Great idea! My husband will be out of town some next week, so we might have to try this out! Have you read the book “When Daddy Travels”? It’s a cute lift-the-flap book, but it has the kids making a cake for Daddy too! http://www.icanteachmychild.com
[Reply]
How fun, it’s nice to have special traditions for when Daddy is traveling. It looks like a yummy cake and I love that the frosting is less sweet. But anyway you look at it, it stinks that Mike was away from home so much.
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Guest Post- Malia from Yesterday on Tuesday =-.
[Reply]
@Jenae – I’ve never read that book, but it sounds like one we should check out – thanks for the recommendation!
@Katie – Yes it does. I’d love for him to be home all the time, but at least he’ll only be gone for one week in September!
[Reply]