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Devil Dog Birthday Cake, Take Two

February 9, 2010

A couple of years ago, I used Devil Dogs as decoration for a birthday cake I made for J.’s grandma. Even as I was making that cake, I realized that trying to replicate a Devil Dog with my own cake and frosting would have been a cool alternative. So I had big plans for GG’s birthday cake this year — I was going to follow Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Homemade Devil Dog, Ding Dong, or Hostess Cake and make the cake and frosting from scratch.

However, I really didn’t take a good look at the recipe or directions until the morning of the birthday celebration, and I quickly realized I didn’t have the time to make the cakes from scratch, let alone freeze them before frosting (as Deb and my friend Jen — who has made Deb’s cake before — suggest). I decided I’d use a devil’s food cake mix instead, but still make the Marshmallow Frosting myself.

I divided the batter between ten 5-inch mini loaf pans, filling them each with only about an inch or so of thick batter. They puffed up while baking, but then settled back down to a nice, slightly-rounded top as they cooled. The cake was perfect — moist and deeply chocolaty, and not cloyingly sweet.

I started the frosting just before dinner, following the recipe with what I think wound up being two major changes: I didn’t use a metal bowl (I only had glass), and I used pasteurized egg whites (from a carton, but they are 100% liquid egg whites, not Egg Beaters) rather than separating the yolks out of fresh eggs. I beat the frosting for 6 minutes, then another minute, then another. Nothing. I got a little froth but overall it stayed in liquid form. With only a few minutes to go before I had to put a meal on the table, I threw out that batch and made a super-quick vanilla buttercream instead. With this successful batch, I made sandwiches out of the mini loaves (used whole) and the frosting, making five small Devil Dog-like cakes. A reasonable serving would have been to cut each filled cake into three servings. But you know, I can’t say we were too reasonable.

Overall I was very pleased with the way the Devil Dog Birthday Cake looked, even though it was created quite differently than I’d originally intended. Everyone loved them, especially the birthday girl. If you come to my house today, don’t expect any leftovers — I sent some home with GG and between the rest of us we polished these puppies off within 24 hours of them being baked.

Filed under: Dessert