The Most Incredible Confection Ever...You've Been Warned!

With the temperatures as cold as they are outside right now, I am busy indoors on my day off, cleaning and baking.  Earlier this week, I heard a recipe for a Milky Way Cake on a morning radio talk show that I always listen to.  They mentioned the ingredients but didn't go into detail regarding how to make it, so later on I did a little research and found the recipe that they had talked about: Charlie Manuel's Milky Way Cake!  (For those of you who don't follow baseball teams, and that includes me, he is a player for the Phillies.)  It is published in a cookbook that they released last year to raise money for charities called "From Our Home to Yours: A Collection of Phillies Recipes", so obviously I can't take any credit for this recipe, but I am sharing it on my recipe blog for any of you who would like to try it (while at the same time making your house smell like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory--the old one, not the new one).  I'm also adding it to the bottom of this post.

This is what dreams are made of.

I started by melting the candy bars and butter together in the microwave, which probably took a minute to a minute and a half.  (I must stop at this point and say that I've never had a Milky Way candy bar to my recollection.  It looks like a Snickers without the nuts.  I am sad to say that I didn't really develop a taste for Snickers until a few years ago, and I am going to have to make up for that in the years to come.  That being said, I believe that I will like Milky Way candy bars.)  While those were melting, I began beating the cake mix together.  May I just say that melting candy bars and butter together smells awesome? An interesting thought: I think that if you wanted, you could melt the butter completely and melt the candy bars most of the way, and leave small chunks to find in the cake after it's baked.  Okay.  After the cake mix was ready, I added the melted mixture and vigorously folded it into the batter.  It took a few minutes before it was completely incorporated, but it is worth it.  I poured it into the bundt pan (its first use ever) and put it in the oven.  (A tip for those not used to baking: be sure to beat the cake mix according to the directions, timing each level.  For instance, if it says "beat on low for 30 seconds", do exactly that.  Your cakes will come out with just the right amount of air and make them light and fluffy.)

My house smells like heaven right now.

I haven't done much baking since I started working again, but that will all have to change with the discovery of this recipe.  My next blog:  How To Lose Unwanted Candy Bar Cake Pounds.

The cake baked for at least ten or fifteen minutes longer than the package directed.  Different ovens will bake at different temps, but be aware that with the addition of extra ingredients comes extra baking time.  But it is out of the oven now, and it is teasing me as it cools by sending tantalizing aromas throughout the house from the general kitchen area. 

I couldn't wait until it cooled completely to take it out of the bundt pan.  Make sure you let it cool completely before removing it from the bundt pan.  It didn't come out clean, but it tastes delicious!  I mean, come on--candy bars in cake form??  How can it not be good?  Now, it's great plain, but if you need the extra oomph, try sprinkling powdered sugar over top, or frost it with chocolate frosting (my favorite recipe follows at the bottom).

Well, there you go.  This is an awesome cake, best to make when there are a lot of people to eat it with you.  I'm not even going to share calorie details, so don't ask.  Just know, the more calories, the better it tastes!

Charlie Manuel Milky Way Cake

Wow.  Very good.  Does not keep well though, so you should just eat it right away.

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick unsalted butter

6 regular-sized Milky Way bars, cut into 1" squares

Directions:

Preheat oven according to package directions for bundt cake pan.

Using a microwave, melt the butter and candy bars together, stirring occasionally.  Mix well.

Prepare cake mix according to the package directions, then stir in Milky Way mixture.

Bake as directed on cake mix package.

(Note: I had to add an extra ten minutes or so to the package bake times)

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolatey Chocolate Frosting
1 stick (1/2 C) unsalted butter (I don’t recommend using margarine)
2/3 C Hershey cocoa
3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter.  Stir in cocoa.  Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to desired spreading consistency.  Add more milk, if needed.  Stir in vanilla.  Makes about two cups frosting.