i am a terrible cook.
no really. terrible.
i can boil water, but beyond that i struggle with things that involve burners.
omelettes = scrambled eggs with stuff in them.
oh, it gets better: i CANNOT make stove-top pudding. i will burn it every time. i can't even remember which order to put vegetables in for a stir fry... something always ends up being cooked too much and extremely mushy.
however, give me an oven and i can bake up a storm.
last thursday my semi-famous (i mean, how famous can a cake be in middle-of-nowhere, VA?) chocolate hershey bar cake was requested as the snack for the women's bible study that meets every week (we're studying the book of ESTHER and it's FANTABULOUS).
back story: i went home with my sophomore roommate (miss tracy gayle) and her mama had this little beauty sitting in the fridge waiting for us. just waiting. in all of it's mouth-watering glory. it was THE BEST THING that had ever touched my lips. it's DELICIOUS. and ever since i first tasted it in the kitchen of my favorite non-biological set of parents i make this as often as possible. every time i have to bring food for ANYTHING this is what comes with me: church pot-lucks, yard sales (well, not the yard sale part - for the cake walk!), birthday cakes for friends... because it is SO GOOD. and SUPER EASY. i made it in 13x9 inch pan form for my boss' birthday and in cupcake form for a new year's get together.
AND SO i have to share :) this is an easy recipe for delicious chocolate hershey bar cake!
the sign of a good recipe = a gross recipe card :)
the cake part:
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
3 eggs
3/4 cups applesauce
1 1/2 cups milk
mix everything together and separate batter equally into 3 greased, round layer pans - cook at 375 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean.
*fun fact: this recipe originally called for 3/4 cups vegetable oil, but i read on Pintrest that you can substitute applesauce for vegetable oil and it is healthier (sooooo basically, this cake is good for you ;)
the icing part:
1 c granulated sugar
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 c confectioner's sugar (grandmama calls it 10x sugar)
*mix that all together with a hand mixer
1 12 oz container of cool whip
3 hershey bars (shaved)
first, put the sugars and the softened cream cheese into a large bowl and beat with a hand held mixer (or bust out the kitchen aid and use the whisk looking attachment) - mix until creamy and delicious looking
this works best if the cream cheese is slightly softened (i take it out of the fridge when i get all of the ingredients out for the cake part so that can soften up)
then add the 12 oz of cool whip - i initially continue to work with the mixer, but then switch to a spatula to make sure everything gets mixed evenly
the most time consuming part of this entire recipe = shaving the 3 hershey bars. i stick them in the fridge before i start so they don't melt easily while i'm holding them to cut.
fun fact #2: you would think using a food processor would be a good idea for this part... false. not only did i break one (in my defense: it was a really old one), it also didn't chop them up the way i like (i'm probably just finnickey, so if you really want to save time just use a [NEW, STURDY] food processor)
mix them together!! i use the spatchula for this part too
once everything is mixed and the layers have cooled, plop out one, ice the top, plop another one down on top of your already iced bottom layer, ice the top, plop the last layer on top, ice the sides and then finish off with putting TONS of icing on top!
TIP: this cake is THE BEST once it has sat in the refrigerator over night (i don't know what makes that happen, but seriously it is so moist it melts in your mouth almost)
try it! it's simple and YUMMY :)
more crafting is up later on this week... and an ANNOUNCEMENT!!
YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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