Bake sale treats

Funfetti cupcakes! VCTOTW goldens, vanilla buttercream, and Wilton's bug-free jumbo rainbow nonpareils.





As I suspected, many of the 'fettis sank to the bottom. Next time I would sprinkle a few on top as well so they'd work their way down just a little as it baked.

Cherry almond black bottoms! Same black bottoms as before, this time with some chopped Bing cherries and almond extract.





And finally...


Faux-hos

Spongey chocolate cake
2 c. all-purpose flour, scant
1 tbs. vital wheat gluten
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 c. unrefined cane sugar
1/2 c. canola oil
1 1/2 c. soy milk
2 tbs. cornstarch
margarine and cocoa for prepping the pan

Preheat oven to 350F.

Prepare an 11 x 17 jelly roll pan by lightly greasing the bottom, then pressing a large sheet of parchment into the pan. (The greasing will help it stick.) Then grease the top of the parchment and lightly dust with cocoa powder. You could also bake this in multiple smaller pans, just make sure the batter is poured to the same thickness, and you might have to adjust the cooking time.

Sift together the flour, gluten, cocoa, powder, soda, and salt, then set aside. Scant means you want to be short the 1 tbs. of flour you're replacing with gluten...dump your tablespoon of gluten into the 1 c. measure, then scoop your flour and level off.

Whisk together the sugar, oil, milk, and cornstarch until nice and frothy. Fold the wet mixture into the dry, then pour into your prepared pan. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter out evenly; it should be about 1/2" thick.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Do not overbake! It'll make your life hard if this cake becomes too dry.

Let the cake cool for a couple minutes, then remove to a cooling rack and let it completely cool.

For hohos, divide the cake in half lenghtwise, and in quarters crosswise, so you end up with 8 sections that are about 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

Each rectangle will become 3 hohos. Using a long, serrated blade and this technique (minus the first scoring step...you won't be able to really see it on such a small piece), carefully slice the cake into 3 layers, about 1/4" each. If your cake is a little crunchy around the edges, you can trim that part off. It'll make slicing and rolling much easier and provide a nice snack.

Spread a thin layer of basic buttercream (VCTOTW works well for this) onto each slice, then roll them up, starting on a narrow end. Don't worry about tiny cracks or holes in the sponge, the icing and the chocolate will glue everything in place. If the cake is totally falling apart, um...sorry? You might have overbaked or maybe my recipe sucks. I don't know...this is the first time I've made it. If the thin slices are failing, try the ding dong method below. Set the rolls on a plate and once you're done, refrigerate (covered) for at least 2 hours.

You can also make ding dongs from this recipe. Just use a round cutter or the top of a glass to cut out 2 1/2-3" circles. Slice each circle into two layers, apply frosting, then sandwich back together.

Once your cakes have firmly set, melt 2 bags of chocolate chips and 3 tbs. shortening (careful if substituting another fat...it must be something that will set at room temp) over a double boiler. Dip your cakes in, making sure to coat all sides, then set on parchment to cool. You can tell my dipping technique needs a little practice. Try to be quick about it; the warm chocolate will start to disintegrate the cake if you aren't. Freezing the cake might help; haven't tried that yet though. It will take a couple hours for the chocolate to set, depending on the room temp, and the fridge can definitely speed up the process. You can tell the chocolate is set when it no longer looks shiny.



Enjoy with some soy milk or water. There are kind of sickeningly sweet, just like the originals!