Homemade Ding Dong Cake

Homemade Ding Dong Cake

A rich chocolate cake with marshmallow filling, lots of chocolate frosting, and that irresistible white squiggle. Your favorite childhood treat, upgraded!

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 5 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 573 kcal

Ingredients
For the Cake Batter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar packed
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup freshly brewed coffee cooled and lukewarm
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Marshmallow Filling

• 1 cup salted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 12 or 13 ounces store-bought marshmallow creme or fluff (size varies by brand)

For the Chocolate Frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 ounces 60% cacao dark bittersweet chocolate

For the White Squiggle Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons whole milk
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the sides, bottom, and center of a tube pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a round piece of parchment paper with a hole cut out in the middle. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a balloon whisk, ,vigorously stir until the ingredients are uniform in color and fully blended. Set aside. 
3. In a medium bowl, place the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla, and beat together with a fork. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into the center. Mix with a large spatula until a batter forms. Pour into the prepared baking pan. (It should only come about one-third up the side of the pan.) Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 3 hours, or up to overnight
4. To make the marshmallow filling, place the salted butter and vanilla extract into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until creamy. Add the marshmallow creme or fluff and beat until incorporated. 
5. Remove the cake from the cake pan and set it with the rounded side up. Create a tunnel in the cake for the filling by first making a "moat": with a small paring knife, cut a curved rectangle, 2 inches long and 1 inch wide into the top of the cake about halfway between the center hole and the outside edge of the cake, following the curve of the cake. Cut into the cake about two-thirds deep, and use the knife to lift the rectangle out from the cake. If the hole isn't deep enough, use the knife to scrape out more cake, but don't cut all the way through to the bottom. Repeat working around the cake, cutting out rectangular pieces to make a continuous moat. Place the cake pieces right next to where they were cut, so they can be put back when the time comes. 
6. Once the moat has been cut around the entire cake, spoon the marshmallow filling into the moat, filling a little more than halfway. You may not use all the fluff, but that's okay, reserve it for another use.
7. Cut off about half of each rectangular piece of the cake from the rough side. Replace the remaining cake pieces in the moat over the marshmallow filling to plug up the cake. Repeat all the way around the cake. Turn the cake over so the "flat"side of the cake is up, and the plugged side is on the bottom, and place on a cake stand or serving plate.

For the chocolate frosting,

1. combine the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in a medium pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble on the sides of the pan. Reduce the heat to low and add the chocolate, stirring until the frosting is smooth. Quickly spoon the warm frosting over the cake. The frosting is a bit finicky and will begin to crust immediately as it cools. If this becomes a problem, spoon as much as you can where you want it, and wet your fingers and use them to smooth out the frosting. 

For the white squiggle icing,

1. mix the powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup in a bowl and mix until it forms a thick paste. Scrape it into a pastry bag with a small round tip, or a zip-top bag and cut the smallest amount of a corner off. Make some test squiggles on a piece of paper to get the feel of it, then squeeze squiggle loops over the top of the iced cake. 

To make homemade marshmallow fluff:

1. In the bowl of a electric mixer, place 4 egg whites and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks form, then stop the mixer.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup, and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium sauce pan and cook over high heat until the syrup reaches 245 degrees on a candy thermometer (the firm ball stage). Remove from the heat.
3. Turn the mixer back on to medium speed. Slowly drizzle a little bit of the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, avoiding the moving whisk. Raise the speed to medium high and continue to drizzle.
4. Once it's all added, continue to beat for an additional 7 to 10 minutes, until the marshmallow fluff is stiff and glossy white. Scoop the fluff into another bowl and let cool completely.

source :https://www.culinaryhill.com

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