Homemade Hostess Cakes
I took my original semi homemade chocolate cake recipe, cut out hearts with a cookie cutter, made them two layers and filled with a vanilla buttercream frosting in the middle. Then of course poured chocolate ganache over the tops and let drizzle over the sides.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 box (3.9 oz) chocolate fudge instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup prepared, warm coffee
4 eggs
Vanilla Buttercream
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Ganache
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan with non stick spray and set aside. I used a 12×17 shallow pan.
2. In a mixer bowl, pour in the box cake mix and pudding mix. Then add the sour cream, vegetable oil, eggs and coffee, mix together well. Batter will be very thick.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine was done closer to the 15 minute mark.
5. Set aside to cool before cutting out the hearts and frosting the mini cakes.
6. Once cooled, cut your heart shapes out with a cookie cutter and set aside on a wire rack.
BUTTERCREAM
1. Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter for about 2 minutes until fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mix after each addition. Then add the vanilla, heavy cream and salt. Add more powdered sugar for a thicker frosting and more cream for a thinner frosting.
3. Using a piping bag or a plain old knife, frost the top of one cake heart and then place another cake heart on top to make your cake sandwich. You can make the layer as thick or thin as your tastebuds desire.
CHOCOLATE GANACHE
1. Place the chocolate chunks in a medium sized bowl and set aside. Heat your cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the cream just starts to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until smooth.
2. Using a spoon or straight from the bowl, pour the ganache over your assembled heart sandwiches. Make sure to let it drizzle over the sides as well.
4. Cool the frosted cakes completely, in the fridge is recommended. Now they are ready to eat and impress all your friends, be sure to reminisce about what you always wished was in your lunch box.