Another Almost Kitchen Fail… That Wasn’t
Whether you call them Ding Dongs, Ring Dings, or Ho Ho’s, I’m sure we’ve all indulged in one of those sweet, chocolatey treats with the creamy filling. They’re downright dangerous in my house—I always seem to want just one more.
Since it’s baking season, I decided to try recreating these little gems in cake form. Oh yes, a potential disaster was lurking around the corner, but here’s the tale of my sweet culinary adventure.
The Cake
Chocolate was a given—but what kind? Dark chocolate? Devil’s food? Scratch-made or box mix? I decided to cheat a little. Tackling enough new steps already, I went with a boxed Devil’s Food Cake mix. My grocery store only had one brand, so the choice was easy.
To my delight, the cakes baked up beautifully—no big humps in the center, which meant no trimming required. A small victory!
The Filling
This part was trickier. First, I tried a cream cheese filling. Nope. Then marshmallow cream—which turned into a literal trip around town trying to find a jar of fluff. My local grocery store clearly wasn’t supporting my culinary efforts.
Finally, I settled on a roux frosting. It starts with cooking flour and heavy cream, whisking steadily until thick, then cooling. At first, it looked like a lumpy, starchy mess. But with persistence (and plenty of sugar and butter), I beat it into submission. Success!
The Ganache
For that satiny finish, I knew I needed ganache—not a thick frosting. I’d never made it before, but if the kids on Kids Baking Championship can do it, surely I could too.
The recipe seemed simple: melt chocolate chips in the microwave with 1¼ cups of heavy cream. Easy enough. Except… my ganache turned out thin. Very thin.
The Assembly
I placed the flattest cake round on the bottom, piled on the filling (a lot of it!), and topped it with the second round. It looked promising, though a bit messy. I figured the ganache would hide the imperfections.
Wrong. The ganache hadn’t thickened, and as I poured it over, it pooled around the base instead of coating the sides. Chocolate everywhere.
After mopping up the mess, I let it set, then tried again. By this time, the ganache had thickened just enough to cover the cake. But my sloppy filling betrayed me—poking through here and there, smearing into the glossy chocolate.
No beauty contests for this cake. But the taste? A big, satisfying YUM.
Lessons Learned
I learned a lot from this adventure and will definitely try again—after I recover. Maybe next time I’ll smooth the filling more carefully… or even make a heart-shaped version for Valentine’s Day.
You’ll find my recipe at Mom’s Recipe Corner. At least you’ll be forewarned about the pitfalls if you decide to try.