Chocolate Cake with White Frosting

I made this cake for my Mom's birthday, and it was to serve a crowd of 15 (including small children). I wanted to be sure there was enough cake for everyone, without using two cake mixes. So I decided that I wanted my two 8" rounds to each be as tall as they could be. It worked! The cake rose more than usual and it turned out nice and tall, and it was enough for everyone at the party.

Chocolate Cake

1 box devil's food cake mix
1 box (small) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 1/4 c water
1/2 c oil
4 eggs, separated
1/8 tsp cream of tartar


Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8" cake rounds with Pam Baking (you can use regular Pam too, or old fashioned grease n' flour... but Pam Baking is so fantastic; cakes never stick!). Mix cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, and egg yolks with a hand mixer in a large bowl. Mix for about 2 minutes until it is well-combined. The mixture will be thick.

Beat egg whites & cream of tartar in a separate, smaller bowl until stiff peaks form. This won't take very long. (FYI, egg whites whip up better when they're at room temperature rather than cold. The cream of tartar acts as a stabilizer, helping the whipped whites to not collapse.)

Fold beaten egg whites into the cake batter. Once it's combined, pour into two 8" cake pans and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly touched.

Allow to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, the invert onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.


Something interesting I noticed about the way the cake baked with this recipe is that the cakes rose more evenly during baking. Rather than having an obvious dome in the middle, the cake rose up the sides almost just as much. In fact, the dome was so small that I didn't even have to cut ANY of it off when assembling the cakes! I was delighted that it turned out so well.

White Frosting

I decided to give this frosting recipe a try. I'll just provide you with the link so you can read the directions for yourself; it's Pioneer Woman's "best frosting I've ever had." Yes, it was very good. In the pictures the texture looks just like buttercream, but it's quite different in real life. It's very light, and sort of melts in your mouth like whipped cream. However, it is much more sturdy than whipped cream; I put about 1/2" layer of this frosting between each of my four layers of chocolate cake, and it held up beautifully and didn't squish out or get smushed by the weight of the cake. It spread easily and tasted very good with the chocolate cake. I wouldn't use it for any time buttercream is called for, but I will definitely make it again to go on a chocolate cake or cupcakes.

The ingredients are strange... There's flour in it, but don't let that freak you out. It works! My only addition to the instructions given: be sure to sift your flour first. I had a few tiny lumps in mine and wish I'd taken the time to sift it first.