Hostess Cupcake Cake

NOTE: UPDATED HERE.The good news? This was one of, if not the, best tasting cakes I EVER have had. Such moist, delicious chocolate cake. Creamy vanilla filling and a rich chocolate frosting. So decadent and fabulous.

The bad news? It was not at all structurally sound. As in flowing lava pit of vanilla filling flowing from a crumbling mountain of moist cake. Note to self: a very moist cake does not make a structurally sound 4 layer cake with a hole of filling in the middle. Who woulda thunk?

So this is the story of a very tasty giant hostess cupcake cake that just would not stand. It had a few cracks in the 2^nd layer, but we patched those up and thought it was fine. On went the 3^rd layer and it was beautiful.

Then came the fourth layer. It leaned. It squished and then it flowed. The yummy vanilla frosting started oozing out of those tiny wholes we patched. Then the case couldn’t support the top layer and it became a work of art that only Dr. Seuss could love.

Using the chocolate frosting, I patched the fallen pieces as best I could and came up with what looked sort of like a hostess cupcake cake. It tasted sort of like a hostess cupcake, only MUCH better. Much, much better.

A few choices if you want to make this. You can use a dryer, more sturdy cake. Or you can just use the white filling as a filling between layers instead of making a hole in the middle. Or, what I am going to try next time, make cupcake, cut a cone off the top, fill with the vanilla, retop with cake, then frost with chocolate. Won’t be as impressive, but then again, a Dr. Seuss shaped cake wasn’t that impressive to look at either.

Giant Hostess Cupcake Cake

Cake

MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH OF THIS CAKE (or follow this portion of the recipe and halve the layers)

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.
CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Vanilla Filling

• 1 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine flour and milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. In a small bowl, beat flour and milk mixture until fluffy. Add sugar and salt and beat well. Add shortening and beat well. Add butter and beat well. Add vanilla and incorporate thoroughly. Total mixing time should be 8 to 10 minutes, beating very well with each addition. This creates a light and fluffy filling

Chocolate Frosting

I MADE A DOUBLE BATCH AND IT WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH EVEN WITH USING IT AS PUTTY. A SINGLE BATCH SHOULD BE FINE

1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate (or chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar (I decreased to about 1 cup)
1/4 cup milk (lowfat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt together butter and chocolate in a medium-sized, microwave safe bowl. Work in 30 second intervals, stopping to stir frequently, and continuing until the mixture is smooth. Let cool slightly (about 3-5 minutes).
Add in confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until smooth.

ASSEMBLY:

Place one layer of cake on serving platter. Take next layer and, on separate cutting board, remove a 4 inch circle from middle. Frost first layer of cake with either the vanilla or chocolate frosting. Top with second layer. Fill the hole with vanilla filling. Frost with opposite flavor as from first layer. Create a same sized hole in next level. Put it on top of the 2^nd layer. Fill with vanilla and again frost with alternating flavor. Put final layer on top. Frost with chocolate and then do the 7 loop swirl on top with vanilla.