The Idea: Microwave cake came to me the old-fashioned way - one of the ladies from my mom and dad's Sunday School class mentioned having a it at her last bridge party. It sounded interesting - just take 2 cake mixes and blend, put 3 tablespoons of mix and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwavable container, and nuke for 1 minute.
A Google search revealed the idea on Duncan Hines. Since I had to stop by HEB on the way home, I decided to go ahead and get the ingredients, even though I was a little leery. I grew up in a family of wonderful bakers, and cake mixes have just never done it for me. My mom always said that it took just as much time to back a cake from scratch as from a mix, so why not do the better one? And I really don't trust the microwave for baking.
The Process: Use one box of angel food cake mix plus any other flavor of cake mix. The only angel food cake mix was the HEB brand, and I got Red Velvet for my husband and daughter.
The angel food cake mix came with two packets, one for the egg whites and one for the cake.
The directions are to pour both mixes in a big baggie and mix up. I just dumped the two packets in along with the Red Velvet mix. Usually, I am very particular about this, but I figured that I wasn't missing out on much if if didn't work. Shake the bag until all the mixes are combined. In this case, it turned the color of hot chocolate mix. Or the same color as my counter.
Measure out 3 tablespoons of mix and 2 tablespoons of water and mix in a microwavable container. I used a small Pyrex, but a coffee mug would probably work, too.
The looks of it straight out of the microwave fit my expectations. It is not as good as a real cake. Coming from the microwave, it has the rubbery texture. But amazingly, it tasted less like cake mix than I expected. It's almost like using an Easy Bake Oven in half the time! I definitely think the whipped cream was called for, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The Good: It's easy. The mix can stay in the baggie in the pantry for quick snacks. Taste is pretty good.
The Bad: Rubbery texture. Adding frosting or whipped cream will downplay the texture! If you want a gooier cake, put the topping on right out of the microwave, and it will seep into the cake. Cool the cake if you don't want the topping to melt.
Summary: I'm keeping the baggie of cake in the pantry to see how often my family uses it for snacks. I still like my "from scratch" cakes better, but this is great for snacking and not baking a whole cake that won't get finished. It's very easy to remember 3 tablespoons of mix, 2 tablespoons of water, and 1 minute in the microwave. Has potential to be a keeper.
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