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"That's My Baby"

When a newspaper reporter asks me, "Did you have any idea this book would be so successful?" I answer, honestly, "No."

Oh sure, I knew it would sell, but sail into seven or eight printings in nine months? Has it only been nine months? My pregnancies seemed shorter than this experience!

And as usually happens soon after you deliver a baby, I'm still up late at night! The birth has spawned a newsletter, the friendly chatter of e-mail, and a photo and newspaper clip file that would make any author/mom proud.

But whereas some moms are questioned as to why they named their baby what they did, I have been spared that interrogation. American cooks "got it" when they saw the words "Cake Mix Doctor." For cake mixes are a part of the American culinary landscape, and doctoring them up is an American past time.

Yet as my family and I pack for a vacation in England, where we used to live, and where our friends have grown older and their children grown taller since we were last there six years ago, I feel uneasy. I have been asked to appear on British radio shows, to even bake a cake in one of the radio studio kitchens. And they are giving me an entire 30 minutes to do this. Ha!

I know I will be interrogated. The British surely don't understand our phrase "doctoring," and they surely don't understand our preoccupation with cake mixes. But it should be a lively show. It's not everyday you have an American woman with a Southern accent on your local radio, urging you to buy cake mix and add all kinds of crazy things to it! I'm packing my own cake pans, but I'll use their mixes. And I'll bake in their gas ovens and hope my conversion chart at the back of the book serves me well. And I've got this feeling that even though the British won't "get it" when they see the book cover, they will "get it" when they take a bite of warm banana cake.

I think I'll bake the banana cake with caramel frosting and toasted pecans scattered on top just because of the wonderful way they'll pronounce the word "banana." And because I've never seen anyone take a bite of that cake and not smile.

That's my baby!

Summertime and the livin' is easy...but not for The Cake Mix Doctor. Before Anne went on a hard-earned vacation she did several radio and phone interviews (including US News) and BEST OF ALL was interviewed and photographed for People in her home. The hard work has paid off: After several weeks at No. 2, the book reclaimed No. 1 on The Los Angeles Times Cookbook Hot List. She then returned from her vacation and went on "Good Morning America." All this followed summer features in The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor. So, we keep printing: 400,000 by the end of the summer making our printing presses as hot as all those ovens we thought for sure would go cold during the summer months. But like the postman's motto, neither rain nor snow nor heat... has stopped everyone from baking!

Believe it or not, cake mixes have a shelf life of up to two years! Keep them in a cool, dry place, like your pantry. Some climates are just naturally suited to keeping cake mixes fresh longer—where there is cooler, drier weather. So, if you live in Houston, or Tampa, or even in Memphis in the summertime you'd best not stock up on cake mixes for the long haul.

I only like to make square cakes. Is there a conversion from round pans to square? I'm not sure if it's safe to go around willy-nilly upping the ingredients, being that a cake is, after all, a miracle of physics.
—Susan Scarbrough, Atlanta, GA

My cousin Joe, the college-placement math teacher, might be able to come up with a formula for us so we could find out how much extra cake might be lurking in the corners of that square pan. But I don't want to ask him! Let's just say if the recipe calls for a 9-inch round, you can sub a 9-inch square. But if you've got 8-inch squares or 10-inch squares, now you're talking less or more batter.

When I make chocolate frostings using cocoa, they turn out darker than yours. Is this because I use a Dutch-process cocoa?
—Janet Orr, Columbus, OH

Precisely. Dutch-process cocoas produce beautiful but darker frostings compared with those made with regular cocoa. Suit yourself. And did you know the longer you beat a chocolate frosting, it lightens in color?

HELP FOR THE FRUSTRATED MOM

Cathi Williams of Powhatan, VA, was searching for a gismo to help her neatly fill cupcake tins. Our readers have come to the rescue with these great ideas:

The ice cream scoop was the hands-down favorite. This ice cream scoop with the lever inside pushes the ice cream or cake batter out, say Marion Taylor of Brighton, NY, and Jane Ruhl of Louisville, KY. Nadia of Atlanta, GA, and Linda Greiner of Washington, NJ,, use a smaller cookie scoop for miniature muffins. "One squeeze of the handle and the batter drops into the cup neatly," says Nadia. Annette Leger of Gardner, MA, adds that muffins made this way "are always a uniform size, in other words, PERFECT." Carol Kauffman of Fort Collins, CO,, says most cooking stores as well as the Pampered Chef carry them. Karen McKinney of Tampa, FL,, also recommends the ice cream scoop as well as a 4-cup measuring cup. "It already has a pour spout for easy filling." And Nancy Griebel of Bay City, MI, prefers an ice cream scoop but a good ladle will do, too.

Buy a Zeroll scoop from King Arthur Flour. See King Arthur Flour. There are two or three sizes, says Julie Stokes of Greenleaf, ID.

Lisa Harper of Nashville, TN, says Wilton makes a candy funnel with a trigger to stop and start the flow of dropping mints. "This could be used with batter or she could use disposable plastic decorating bags, but this seems like a lot of work."

In addition, Marion Taylor just purchased some stainless steel spoons made by AMCO at Marshall's. They are labeled "MEGA MUFFIN" on the front and "1/2 cup" on the back. And when all else fails, Marion says don't worry about different size cupcakes or muffins. "I'm sure the kids don't mind!"

CAKES FOR THE ELDERLY

Penny Opheim writes in response to Laura Klein's plea for cake ideas for the elderly.

"My grandfather, at 94, preferred cakes with a lot of flavor such as spice cakes, things with cinnamon and pound cake. The pound cake has a heavier consistency," which she says is easier for the elderly to pick up and eat.

CMD note: Plus, I think spice cakes and pound cakes are wonderfully nostalgic. They were cakes our seniors ate when they were children, aromatic cakes that perfumed the kitchen.

HELP BAKE SPECIAL CAKES

I have received an overwhelming number of e-mails from people who bake for others on special diets. They must bake without eggs, without milk, without milk and eggs, or without sugar. I have been able to help with some substitutions but am soliciting your assistance. Any egg-less cake mix recipes out
there? Any ideas for substituting for sour cream or buttermilk on a milk-free diet? Baking with sugar-free gelatin and pudding? Any great cookbooks that incorporate cake mixes? E-mail those ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.

A DAZZLING SUMMER CAKE

Marcia Cohen of Glenview, IL, shares her favorite way to dress up a simple angel food cake mix, and this is one beautiful and easy cake. Marcia bakes the cake following the package directions, and lets it cool, or she starts with a store-bought angel food cake. She breaks the cooled cake into 2-inch chunk pieces and layers in a clean angel food cake pan with colorful sherbets - cake mix on the bottom, lime sherbet, cake mix, pineapple sherbet, cake mix, orange sherbet, etc. - then covers and freezes the cake. "Upon unmolding onto a platter, I frost with one color sherbet (raspberry) and then serve. The slices are beautiful as well as colorful."

THE VENERABLE 13- BY 9-INCH PAN

Obviously I didn't include enough 13- by 9-inch cake recipes in this book, for everyone's trying to convert the layers and tubes into a sheet cake! A few tips for using this popular pan: If you're going to bake often, invest in a good quality pan. Choose a heavy, shiny aluminum model. Your edges will bake up evenly and not overly brown, and at the same time the underside will firm up and un-mold easily. And if you plan on serving the cake out of the pan, let it rest for no more than 20 minutes, then un-mold onto a serving platter and frost or glaze. The longer the cake rests in the pan and cools, the more it will shrink back and dip in the center.

And for a delicious coconut cake baked in the 13- by 9-inch pan, read on.

CAROLYN'S MOIST AND CREAMY COCONUT CAKE
Serves: 20
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40 to 45 minutes

Carolyn Baner of Pennsville, NJ won't take credit for this incredibly moist coconut cake. She thinks she saw it in a coconut advertisement several years ago, but with her tinkering she has "adjusted" a few ingredients. If you love coconut you will love this recipe, and you can use the sweetened coconut on the grocer's shelf. Carolyn was accustomed to freshly grated coconut, and her mother passed along this trick: To make packaged coconut taste more like fresh, pulse it in a blender or food processor before measuring. This is messy because the coconut sticks to the blades, but it does make it look and taste more like freshly grated. "I keeping thinking I will try to make this cake from scratch rather than used a boxed mix," says Carolyn, "but why mess with a good thing?"

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Glaze:

1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 cups coconut (7-ounce bag) divided use
1 container (8 ounces) whipped topping, thawed

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13- by 9-inch pan.

2. Place the cake mix, pudding, water, oil and eggs in a large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

3. Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool 15 minutes.

4. While cake is cooling, place the milk, sugar and 1/2 cup of coconut in a small saucepan. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Poke holes in the cake with a two-pronged meat fork. Carefully spoon glaze over warm cake, allowing liquid to seep down into the holes. Let cake cool completely, 30 minutes more.

5. Fold 1/2 cup of coconut into whipped topping and spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle top of cake with remaining 1 cup coconut. Cover with waxed paper or loosely with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill overnight, or at least 6 hours. Serve, and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

"My mother-in-law always made the best brownies - very moist and fudgy. Luckily she gave me her secret. All you do is take a regular brownie mix and add 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter... I brought these to a potluck at work, and so many people asked me for the recipe. Enjoy!"
—Michele McKechnie, Crown Point, IN

"I have found that the recent humid days in Florida have given my chocolate frostings a fit unless I set them first. I put the frosted cake in my cake carrier in the freezer for 15 minutes. That is enough time to set the frosting but not harden the cake. Then I take it out and remove the cover so I can wipe out the excess moisture from inside the carrier. I replace the cover and tote it to the party where it sits at room temperature."
—Margo Pope, St. Augustine, FL

CMD note: Great tip. Pastry chefs have long considered the freezer their best friend. They pop the just-baked layers (out of the pans) in the freezer to flash-cool. They frost a triple-layer cake in a warm kitchen by frosting one layer, sticking it in the freezer to set, frosting a second layer, sticking it in the freezer, and so on. The cake won't slide and appear lopsided this way.

Tracy Hayes of Houston, TX, has given up on her insulated cake pans because they cause the layers to be soggy and difficult in removing from the pans. But she recommends them for cookie baking! "My friend and I bake seasonal cookies several times a year, and as with most good friends, we get to talking and don't even hear the oven timer go off! I can't tell you how many burnt cookies went into the trash until we started using the insulated pans. Cookies are uniformly baked on the top and bottom."

Try These Late Summer Cakes
Hummingbird Cake (page 74)
Strawberry Cake (page 64)
Blueberry Muffin Cake (page 94)
Caramel Cake (page 112)
Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake (page 129)

Judy Walker, food editor of The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, tells of how she doctored up my Basic Buttermilk Spice Cake recipe to produce a birthday cake for her mother. "I added 1 cup snipped prunes to the Basic Buttermilk Spice Cake and frosted the layers with the Fresh Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. It turned out great, and the prunes weren't too heavy for the layers."

Sharon Hunt of Seat Pleasant, MD, a suburb of Washington, D.C., has successfully embellished the Doctor! Here is her wonderful story:

"I wanted to let you know that I tried Susan's Lemon Cake this weekend for a cookout. Instead of the glaze she had listed in her recipe, I mixed together a 12-ounce jar of orange marmalade, 2/3 cup coconut and 1/4 cup melted butter. I spread this on the bottom of the cake pan, and then poured in the batter. I also added 1 teaspoon lemon extract, 1 teaspoon orange extract and the juice from 1 small lemon to the cake mix. I received numerous compliments about the cake, with lots of requests to bake this cake for upcoming events. In attendance were several friends of the family who are 'real' bakers by day trade. They did not want to believe that the cake was from a box! The women in my family learned to bake before we actually learned to prepare complete meals. It was my grandmother's and mother's gift to us all. They taught us to have patience and confidence when baking from either scratch or a box mix, plus how to jazz up either one."

Bonnie Smith of Glendale, AZ, encourages us to doctor up the cornbread recipe found in the June newsletter. She adds a 4-ounce can of diced green chilies and 1 cup of shredded Mexican-blend cheese. Or she adds 3/4 cup corn to the batter. And she recommends substituting sour cream for the vegetable oil.

Lisa Archbold of St. Petersburg, FL, bakes cakes in molds so she can decorate them. She recently made one of the doll cakes, and wasn't sure how much mix to use or what kind. "The cake did not taste that great but looked fabulous." She is wondering if anyone out there has experience in baking molded cakes to decorate and what tips they can offer as to how to improve on the taste of the batter. Send your ideas to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.

"I have always doctored up cake mixes, but never to the extreme you have, mostly because of fear. You have taken the fear out of it for me, and I plan on letting my imagination run wild."
—Amy Howard, Ocala, FL

"I've been cooking for many years, making complicated, elaborate cakes. But when I bought your new book, I felt liberated."
—Elaine Lowenstein, St. Louis, MO

"I usually bake from scratch. Not any more! You set me free after 36 years of all day in the kitchen!"
—Fern Stebbins, North Tonawanada, NY

"I am president of the local Woman's Exchange, home of great cooks. Now I won't be intimidated again when it is my turn to bring the specialty cake."
—Margo Pope, St. Augustine, FL

I do most of the extended family dinners, with an average number of 30 people as our families are growing rapidly. We now have seven grandchildren who love to help bake, even the boys. We will have a lot of fun planning cakes to make for each dinner or just because we want cake!"
—Sandra Roedel, Newberg, OR

Thanks for all the great chocolate cake recipes you passed along. I look forward to trying them out and sharing many of them with you. Now I am looking for the infamous Watergate Cake. Does anyone have the recipe? Carol Lomogda of Norfolk, VA, is looking for a 7-Up Cake. And Jan Koren of Villa Park, CA, is desperately seeking a cake with a can of lemonade concentrate mixed into the batter, but not in the glaze. Please send these to anne@cakemixdoctor.com.