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A Piece of Cake
February 2003: First Slice
Newsletter written by Anne Byrn February 11, 2003
Notes from the Doctor
It's less than a week till Valentine's Day, and many of us are blanketed in snow. For parents that means children out of school, under foot, in the kitchen, and yes, cooking. Oh, how lucky I was to have a mother who so desperately wanted us to cook that she didn't whine about the mess we made. I'm not so open-minded, but not that much of a neat freak either, so when snow comes my kids can pretty much have at it in the kitchen—as long as they clean up!
One recipe they have loved warm from the oven is the Lemon Streusel Cake, this month's featured dessert. I know, it's not chocolate, but there are plenty of Valentine ideas in this newsletter, as is some information from Duncan Hines about their experimenting with different package sizes (a.k.a. the shrinking box) and how your comments might convince them otherwise. As usual, I am drawn to the Community Board where so many of you share great recipes and tips with other bakers, and you carry on quite lively dialogue, too. If you haven't checked out the ideas for doctoring store-bought frosting, what are you waiting for? So this month, I'll be short and sweet. And as always . . .
Happy Baking,
Anne
Notes from Workman
Anne may have made a house call to The New York Times in December (which led to the feature story in The Times on January 8—the Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe from which has been featured on this site). But your house calls are only two seasons away. In New York, Anne was still the Cake Mix Doctor, helping Times reporter Alex Witchel with her New Year's resolution to learn to bake. Across the country this fall, our Cake Mix Doctor takes on the whole meal and becomes the Dinner Doctor. Look for a tour throughout the fall and until then thank you for all your wonderful support!
Honey, I Shrunk the Cake Mix Box
Thanks to New York reader/sleuth Mary Lawson for giving me the heads-up that in her supermarket the Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge mix was in a smaller box than usual. She was incensed that once again food packages shrink before our very eyes. "I deplore this kind of consumer cheating . . . I hope you will go on a warpath about this . . . Please fight back, Cake Doctor, signed a Sick Cranky Patient."
I contacted John Milonas at Duncan Hines' parent company Aurora Foods in St. Louis. Milonas said Lawson was right that the Dark Chocolate Fudge and the French Vanilla had been reduced to 17.53 ounces from the usual 18.25. And the change took place two or three months ago across the country. The reasoning? "We put them in the market to see if people will buy them. They are two mid-level varieties. To tell you the truth, most people don't recognize the change." Whoa . . . obviously, Duncan Hines underestimated Lawson and her fellow cake bakers.
Milonas said at the end of last week that the move was just a test, that the company has no plans to decrease the cake mix size across the board, and that they might even reconsider the downsizing if they receive enough negative feedback. Check out Mary's post on the Community Board; she has already received verbal confirmation from Duncan Hines that they are pulling the boxes. Way to go, Mary! If you feel the need to express your opinion about shrinking cake mix boxes head to www.duncanhines.com or call 1-800-362-9834. (You will need to stay on the line until a customer service representative picks up.)
Valentine Top Ten Cake List
(Surely David Letterman would not share this on his late night show, but then, I have a different audience . . .)
10. A pretty tin filled with my friend Beth's fudge cake. She makes this quick dessert by greatly undercooking (20 minutes) a pan of brownies made from a mix, then frosting them still in the pan with Martha's Chocolate Icing (chocolate book). When the icing sets, cut them into bars.
9. Stacy's Chocolate Chip Cake (first book), baked in a tube pan, dusted with confectioners' sugar, and toted to the office for all to enjoy.
8. Lemon Lover's White Chocolate Cake (chocolate book) placed on a doily in a pretty cake box, wrapped with a pretty pale yellow ribbon.
7. Debbie's Dazzling Red Velvet Cake. It's red, it's Valentine's, it's fun.
6. Darn Good Chocolate Cake (both books) baked in the Nordicware Cathedral or Rose pan, then dusted with confectioners' sugar and accompanied by long-stem red roses.
5. A plate of Triple Chocolate Muffins (chocolate book) and a pound of good coffee or box of tea.
4. Make Chocolate Brownie Mousse Trifle (chocolate book) for that over-the-top romantic dessert. I love
the fast chocolate mousse, and this is so fun to eat with a spoon!
3. Try Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake (chocolate book) for those cheesecake lovers out
there, and it's a festive strawberry red for Valentine's.
2. Bake the Peanut Butter Cake (chocolate book), by the recipe, except freeze some Reese peanut butter cups, chop them into pieces, and sandwich these between the layers when you frost the cake. Decorate the top with more whole Reese cups.
1. Drum roll, please . . . Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake baked in a Heart-Shaped Pan, frosted with Chocolate Ganache (aka, The Chocolate Love Cake, chocolate book). You can use two 8-inch pans, a square and a round, two 9-inch pans, a square and a round, or buy one of those neat 11-cup heart pans.
Recipe Swap
Remember in the October newsletter when Dudley Cutshaw of Odenton, MD, was trying to locate the old lemon streusel cake mix? Well, no luck finding that mix, but a real cake discovery came along in the process. Carolyn Baner of Pennsville, NJ, sent us her Lemon Streusel Cake recipe, similar to several others I received. My family loved this so much they would welcome it on Valentine's Day!
Lemon Streusel Cake
Makes 16 servings
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 35 to 38 minutes
Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan
1 package (18.25 ounces) lemon cake mix with pudding
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, not too soft, but not cold
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, if desired
1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 13- by 9-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into teaspoon size pieces and distribute on top of the mix. With two sharp knives cut the butter into the cake mix until the mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture for the topping. Add the milk and eggs to the remaining mix, and blend on low speed of the electric mixer until the batter just comes together, 30 seconds. Stop the machine, and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and blend until the mixture lightens and is smooth, 1 minute longer. Turn this batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with the rubber spatula.
3. In a clean bowl, place the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Blend on low speed (using the same beaters) with an electric mixer just until the mixture comes together, 30 seconds. Drop this mixture by teaspoons onto the top of the cake batter, and with the rubber spatula, smooth the teaspoons together to create a top layer. Add the pecans, if desired, to the reserved topping, and sprinkle this evenly over the top of the batter. Place the pan in the oven.
4. Bake until the edges of the cake are golden brown, and the top of the cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 35 to 38 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven to a wire rack to cool 15 minutes, then cut and serve.
Cook's Note:Carolyn often drizzles a little confectioners' sugar glaze over the top after it cools
(1/2 cup sugar moistened with milk until it can be drizzled).
Do Tell
Lemon must be on everyone's brain. A reader is looking for a lemon cake recipe that uses a box of lemon cake mix and a jar of lemon curd. She saw the recipe in the Smucker's Gift Shop in Ohio. She remembers the curd being used in both the cake and the whipping cream frosting. Send those ideas and recipes to anne@cakemixdoctor.com
Next issue: April 2003
Easter cakes, and as the Community Board has requested, ideas for doctoring up store-bought frostings.
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