Hostess Cake

OK, so the first twin wanted peanut butter cups.

Trevor responded and said he also wanted chocolate, but maybe with some chocolate chips worked in. This wasn’t as specific as Tyler’s request, but it didn’t take me long to come up with something good.

Remember these babies? I’ve been wanting to make them again ever since I baked them last winter. I knew I had seen a cake version of them on Smitten Kitchen, so I went back and searched for it. Sure enough, in this post, she included a recipe for just the type of cake I was hoping to make.

Once again, I started with my favorite chocolate cake (Hersheys), and then used Smitten Kitchen’s recipes for Seven Minute Frosting (aka Marshmallow Frosting) and the chocolate ganache. The ganache is made with semi-sweet chocolate, so I figured that satisfied the “something with chocolate chips” request.

After the cakes were baked and cooled, I cut a little bit of an indent out of the bottom layer of cake, filled it with the seven minute frosting, placed the other layer on top, then covered the whole thing with chocolate ganache. It was a little bit difficult to get the ganache onto the cake smoothly, but it turned out pretty well. I decorated with the extra marshmallow frosting, then sprinkled miniature chocolate chips as the finishing touch.

It was SO GOOD. My only complaint was that there was not quite enough seven minute frosting for my taste. :)

Hostess Cake
(Source: Hersheys & Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:
– Chocolate cake (any recipe, but I used Hersheys), baked in two layers

For Seven Minute Frosting (aka Marshmallow Frosting):
– 2 large egg whites
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1/4 cup light corn syrup
– 2 tbsp. water
– 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For Chocolate Ganache:
– 1/2 pound fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
– 1/2 cup heavy cream
– 1 tbsp. sugar
– 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
– 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

Directions:
For Marshmallow Frosting (to use for filling):
Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Use frosting the day it is made.

For Chocolate Ganache:
1. Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved.

2. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

3. Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable (depending on chocolate used, it may be necessary to chill frosting to spreadable consistency). Stirring this over a bowl of ice water does a great job of cooling it off quickly and evenly.