I have always been a fairly good cook, I love to cook. Well I guess not cook, I love to bake. I love to bake all sorts of things. I like to bake cookies, and brownies, and cupcakes. But the one thing that I could not cook is cake. Obviously if I bought a Betty Crocker cake mix I could do it. But I would rather make my own goodies than just buy a box of it, they always taste better that way, and if you don’t like something about it, then you can change it next time. But every time I tried to make a cake it always turned out completely wrong, either the cake wouldn’t rise correctly or it would just taste awful. There has only been one cake that I have ever been able to make right, and that is a recipe that my step mom always used to make. It is the delicious Chocolate Volcano Cake, now whether she has had this recipe for a long time, or she got it out of a book I’m not sure, but it is delicious.
Chocolate Volcano Cake
INGREDIENTS
Cream mixture:
1 8-ounce softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 cups 4X or 10X sugar
Cake:
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup pecans
1 (18.25-ounce) box German chocolate cake mix, prepare by following direction on box
10 bite-sized almond and chocolate covered candy or candy of choice
Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
For the cream mixture:
Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer. Set aside until ready to use.
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch cake pan.
Line bottom of greased pan with coconut flakes. Sprinkle pecans on top of coconut. Set aside.
Follow directions on back of box to prepare cake. Beat for approximately 2 minutes, using an electric mixer. Fold in bite-sized candy. Pour into cake pan. Evenly space dollops of cream mixture on top of the cake. When the cake cooks, the cream will sink down to the bottom. This will be your “volcano” of flavor. Place in oven for 40 to 45 minutes. While cake is still hot spread the glaze evenly over the cake.
For the glaze:
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and add milk until you get a thin consistency. If glaze is too thick, add more milk. While bringing the butter and milk mixture to a boil, whisk in confectioners’ sugar and almond extract. Glaze should be thin. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before using.
I have tried and tried to bake cakes, but none of them are right. No matter how many different recipes I have tried this is the only one that has turned out delicious. But even this one took some time. I tried to make it one year for Christmas, I got everything finished, glazed the cake and when we tried it, it just really didn’t have the right taste to it. So then, I tried it again on Easter, and it still didn’t taste right. So I said that I would try it one more time, and this time we got a different kind of chocolate. So as I am cooking this, I call in my step mom and tell her that the consistency isn’t the same as it should be, then I got really worried. So finally, as I am glazing it and getting ready for my family to come over I am a nervous wreck. Then, we all start to eat it and it turned out fantastically. And even now to this day, that is still the only cake that I can ever make right, that doesn’t taste like it will poison someone on the spot!
Chocolate Volcano Cake
INGREDIENTS
Cream mixture:
1 8-ounce softened cream cheese
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 cups 4X or 10X sugar
Cake:
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup pecans
1 (18.25-ounce) box German chocolate cake mix, prepare by following direction on box
10 bite-sized almond and chocolate covered candy or candy of choice
Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
For the cream mixture:
Beat ingredients together with an electric mixer. Set aside until ready to use.
Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch cake pan.
Line bottom of greased pan with coconut flakes. Sprinkle pecans on top of coconut. Set aside.
Follow directions on back of box to prepare cake. Beat for approximately 2 minutes, using an electric mixer. Fold in bite-sized candy. Pour into cake pan. Evenly space dollops of cream mixture on top of the cake. When the cake cooks, the cream will sink down to the bottom. This will be your “volcano” of flavor. Place in oven for 40 to 45 minutes. While cake is still hot spread the glaze evenly over the cake.
For the glaze:
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in cocoa powder and add milk until you get a thin consistency. If glaze is too thick, add more milk. While bringing the butter and milk mixture to a boil, whisk in confectioners’ sugar and almond extract. Glaze should be thin. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before using.
I have tried and tried to bake cakes, but none of them are right. No matter how many different recipes I have tried this is the only one that has turned out delicious. But even this one took some time. I tried to make it one year for Christmas, I got everything finished, glazed the cake and when we tried it, it just really didn’t have the right taste to it. So then, I tried it again on Easter, and it still didn’t taste right. So I said that I would try it one more time, and this time we got a different kind of chocolate. So as I am cooking this, I call in my step mom and tell her that the consistency isn’t the same as it should be, then I got really worried. So finally, as I am glazing it and getting ready for my family to come over I am a nervous wreck. Then, we all start to eat it and it turned out fantastically. And even now to this day, that is still the only cake that I can ever make right, that doesn’t taste like it will poison someone on the spot!