Ding Dong Cake

If you know me, you know about my love infatuation with chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I do not discriminate against any sweets, but I am a bit partial to chocolate. Every night, after I eat dinner and clean up the kitchen, I have to have something sweet. I'm telling you, it is like clockwork. I definitely wouldn't be mad about losing 5 pounds, but I am willing to trade a little extra "cushion" for my evening sweet. Sue me.

As I have said, my parents were never the type to buy anything "packaged". No "Blue Box" mac and cheese, no Cocoa Puffs, and no Little Debbie snack cakes. Of course, this lead to major binging when I would spend the night with friends whose parents did buy that kind of stuff, but that's a whole other issue. Lucky for me, I was introduced to something even better than packaged snack cakes...Ding Dong Cake.

It is exactly what the name implies. It is a cake replicating the American favorite snack cake, the "Ding-Dong". Needless to say, this version is so much better. So, without further ado, I give you Ding Dong Cake.

Ingredients:

Devil's Food cake mix
3 oz softened cream cheese
8 oz cool whip
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 can chocolate frosting

Method:

Make cake according to usual instructions. Bake in two 8 inch round cake pans (I always use cooking spray as well as flour to ensure the cakes come out perfectly). Let cakes cool completely. For the filling: Mix together the cream cheese, cool whip, and confectioners sugar. Spread evenly on one cake, then top with the other cake. Heat the can of frosting for 30 seconds in the microwave (frosting should be runny enough to pour over the cake but not so much that it completely slides off.) Pour the frosting over the cake and spread it around the sides as it runs down. It will probably look a little messy; it gets easier.

Refrigerate several hours or overnight!

*Do not use lite of fat free ingredients. The cake will not set properly.

Cutting the cake can be a little tricky. If you try and cut the pieces too small, it will just fall apart. People are going to want a good size piece anyway, so just dip your knife in hot water and cut everyone a good size slice. :)

Salt, Pepper, and Garlic.

I grew up in a food loving home. Both my mom and my dad love (and are good at) cooking. My grandmother and grandfather opened a successful bakery that is now a successful and well known catering company. My aunt owns a popular and delicious restaurant about 40 minutes from me. Needless to say, I have been blessed to be surrounded by excellent food my entire life. Not only did I never go hungry, the food that I was served was much above par. I can remember wishing that my parents would buy boxed macaroni and cheese (Why? I know) because we simply did not have that kind of stuff. Everything was homemade. 

My dad was always inviting me into the kitchen to help him cook. He taught me the simple, yet so important, cooking commandments. He taught me that if a recipe calls for brown sugar, you pack it tightly into the measuring cup. However, if a recipe calls for flour, you carefully spoon it into the measuring cup and scrape of the excess with a flat edge. He taught me that while cooking allowed for a little wiggle room and inventiveness, baking is much more finicky. Cooking is an art. Baking is a science.

From the time that I can remember, I have loved cooking. It was not until I came to college, however, that I truly began to appreciate the knowledge about food I have gained throughout my life. I have learned lots of new things while cooking on my own since I've been at college and I have fallen back on many of the early lessons my dad taught me as well. 

What is the most important cooking lesson, you ask? I don't know that there is one thing that trumps another in importance. But, the whole time I was learning to cook growing up and would take something I had made to my dad for a taste test, he would ask "Did you use salt and pepper?" After he had tried whatever it may be, 9 times out of 10, he would tell me, "Add more garlic."