Two-Thumbs-Up for an Easy, Pretty, and Fun Dessert Idea!
Our daughter lives not far from where the California earthquake happened yesterday (Sep 12). I mention this because at the time of the quake, she’d just pulled a cake from her oven for that night’s dessert. “So what,” you say? Because the cake is called “Earthquake Cake.”
No kidding—talk about a coincidence! This makes a fun story since the quake was only 4.5 or so on the Richter scale. Had there been damage anywhere and we wouldn’t be smiling about the serendipity of it all.
ANYway, this story also lays a good foundation for introducing this once very popular and common 9x13 cake. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Our Aunt Annie used to make it when I was a young girl. We’d swoon over it—it has a cream cheese filling baked right in.
When searching for an easy cake that serves straight from the pan, this is it. And you can dress it up with vanilla cream, chocolate, or cream cheese frosting (or add cream cheese to the vanilla cream or chocolate frosting—what the heck, why not?).
And what’s ultra great about this cake—you can assemble it all at once in a trusty 9x13 and pop the pan in the oven. The cream cheese filling bubbles up to create little cracks and pockets of flavor all over the cake, giving it the “Earthquake” name.
I’ll close with a few tips and tricks to making this delicious cake:
- You can use coffee to amp up the flavor: The chocolate cake recipe calls for hot water to be added to the batter at the end, which helps to add moisture. If preferred, swap the water for coffee. The chocolate cake batter is flavorful enough as-is, but the addition of hot coffee will enhance the chocolate notes even more.
- To swirl or not to swirl: Most people like to gently swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate cake batter, creating a pretty pattern on top. This helps to disperse the pockets of cream cheese as well. For more of an “explosion” effect with your cake, though, you can choose to add smaller dollops of the cream cheese mixture and skip the swirling.
- Place the cream cheese carefully: For this cake, a deep 9x13-inch pan is best, with at least a 2 1/2-inch side wall. Keep the cream cheese mixture from getting too close to the edge of your cake pan to avoid it overflowing into the oven. Place a baking sheet on the lower oven rack if you’re concerned about the cake overflowing and making a mess. After all, it’s called an earthquake cake for a reason.
- Here’s a clever short cut: For slightly quicker prep, skip the homemade chocolate cake batter and use a cake mix in its place. Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the box and assemble the rest of the earthquake cake per the recipe (see below).
Now for the recipe, provided by Molly Allen of www.simplyrecipes.com. Here’s a big THANK YOU and two-thumbs-up for an easy, pretty, and fun dessert idea!
Earthquake Cake
BASE LAYER
1 cup (90g) shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup (120g) chopped pecans
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (410g) powdered sugar
CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (84g) unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
34 cups canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup very hot water
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
BASE LAYER
1. Preheat the oven to 350∞F.
2. Prepare a 9x13-inch cake pan by greasing it with cooking spray and placing a cut piece of parchment paper at the base to prevent sticking.
3. Make the coconut pecan base:
4. In a small bowl, mix the shredded coconut and chopped pecans together. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of the prepared cake pan.
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
5. In a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the softened cream cheese until broken up and smooth. Mix in the melted butter and vanilla extract. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Set the mixture aside.
CAKE BATTER
6. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the mixture is free of any large clumps.
7. Mix in the eggs and oil, and then mix in the milk and vanilla extract until just combined. Stir in the hot water.
8. Combine the batter and cream cheese mixture:
9. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan over the coconut-pecan mixture. Using a spoon, scoop dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter. Use the end of the spoon or a butter knife to gently swirl the cream cheese mixture through the batter, if desired. Itís best to keep the cream cheese mixture away from the sides of the pan to avoid bubbling out while baking.
10. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.
BAKE
11. Bake the cake until the chocolate cake is fully cooked, 40 to 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the chocolate cake edges should come out clean. The cream cheese pockets should be set (not liquidy) but still jiggly. Note that a toothpick inserted in the cream cheese center will not come out clean, as the cake is meant to be gooey.
12. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 1 to 2 hours. Serve slightly warm or wait until it has fully cooled.
13. Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
1. Preheat the oven to 350∞F.
2. Prepare a 9x13-inch cake pan by greasing it with cooking spray and placing a cut piece of parchment paper at the base to prevent sticking.
3. Make the coconut pecan base:
4. In a small bowl, mix the shredded coconut and chopped pecans together. Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of the prepared cake pan.
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
5. In a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the softened cream cheese until broken up and smooth. Mix in the melted butter and vanilla extract. Gradually mix in the powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Set the mixture aside.
CAKE BATTER
6. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until the mixture is free of any large clumps.
7. Mix in the eggs and oil, and then mix in the milk and vanilla extract until just combined. Stir in the hot water.
8. Combine the batter and cream cheese mixture:
9. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan over the coconut-pecan mixture. Using a spoon, scoop dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter. Use the end of the spoon or a butter knife to gently swirl the cream cheese mixture through the batter, if desired. Itís best to keep the cream cheese mixture away from the sides of the pan to avoid bubbling out while baking.
10. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.
BAKE
11. Bake the cake until the chocolate cake is fully cooked, 40 to 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the chocolate cake edges should come out clean. The cream cheese pockets should be set (not liquidy) but still jiggly. Note that a toothpick inserted in the cream cheese center will not come out clean, as the cake is meant to be gooey.
12. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 1 to 2 hours. Serve slightly warm or wait until it has fully cooled.
13. Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
Sources:
- www.iambaker.com
- www.simplyrecipes.com
- www.southyourmouth.com
