The Story Behind Rockyn Robyn’s Ring Ding Cake Along With The Recipe
If you’ve been listening to my radio show on WRAT Radio for the last couple of decades, you know I love to bake.
More than likely, you’ve seen my collection of cakes on my page on WRAT’s website.
Maybe you’ve come across my social media posts where I’ve shared photos of the cakes I’ve made for my RAT family, as well as my family back home in New York.
Like music, baking is a form of therapy for me. I am relaxed and focused when I am in creation mode.
I especially love the way it makes people feel, after I present them with the finished product.
I have no formal culinary or art training, nor do I have the manual dexterity it takes to make a cake or any confection look beautiful.
When it comes to frosting and decorating a cake, I wing it.
I experiment with various piping tips and hope for the best.
Most of the time, the finished product looks pretty good.
Little do the recipients of these baked goods know, I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to decorating a cake.
No pattern in place, no art work to follow, and no clue on how it was going to turn out.
I know my confections taste good, looking good is hit or miss.
Thank goodness my hits are greater than my misses. I’m lucky that way.
I run on passion! I love to feed people, and I love making people happy.
Back in early April, Bruce, my significant other and I were having a discussion on things from our childhood.
The subject of snack cakes came up and the snack cake that was most talked about, were Drake’s Ring Dings.
We reminisced about these little chocolate cakes with cream filling, covered in a shell of dark rich chocolate.
That’s when I had the bright idea to make Bruce a big Ring Ding cake for his birthday the following week.
Only armed with my normal recipe for chocolate cake, I took a swing at it.
Now I had to formulate in my head how to create a similar cream filling for the cake.
I got it right on my first try.
It didn’t taste exactly like the original cream filling inside the Ring Dings I remember from my childhood, it tasted better.
Normally I don’t share certain recipes with people because I like to keep some recipes a secret.
Because of the great demand for the recipe over the last few months, I have decided to give it up.
Here’s the recipe for my version of a Ring Ding Cake.
ROCKYN ROBYN’S RING DING CAKE
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 ¼ cups cake flour (I love the Swans Down brand)
2 /3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs large, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup sour cream at room temperature
2/3 cup very warm water added to 2 tsp of instant espresso
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 350° F Spray two, 6 inch round cake pans with non-stick spray. (I use Trader Joe’s Coconut oil spray)
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 ¼ cup flour, 2/3rd cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt. Mix on low speed for 15 seconds.
In a medium sized bowl combine the 2 eggs, 2/3rd cup sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2/3rd cup of warm water with the instant espresso , and ¼ cup vegetable oil. Whisk until combined.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix on low – medium speed for 1-2 minutes until fully incorporated.
Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans and bake for 40 minutes. I usually check it at 38 minutes with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
FILLING
4oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese
½ Cup of confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Cup Heavy cream
Beat cream cheese using whisk attachment on stand mixer for 2 minutes. Add confectioners sugar and beat for about 2 minutes. Add heavy cream in a slow stream until combined. Once combined, set the mixer on full blast for about 2 minutes until you have stiff peaks
. I put the mixture into a pastry bag with a round pastry tip and piped it in a circle around the bottom layer (about an inch of filling) and spread it evenly with an offset spatula.
Put the cake in the refrigerator until the chocolate covering is ready
CHOCOLATE SHELL COVERING
10 oz Belgian chocolate
2 Tbsp coconut oil
Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in microwave in 20 second intervals. I do it until the chocolate is almost completely melted and stir it and let the residual heat melt it the rest of the way. I do that to prevent the chocolate from seizing.
Let it cool for a few minutes.
Take cake out of the refrigerator and it lay it on a large piece of aluminum foil. Spoon chocolate over the cake. You can let it harden at room temp or you can refrigerate it. I like to keep it in the refrigerator