Every year I have a dinner party before Christmas with some of my teacher friends - 11 to be exact, because I have a set of "12 Days of Christmas" dishes that I pull out of the cabinet once a year for this party. We always have some kind of theme for a gift exchange. This year's theme was "Edible Arrangements." I figured we all had enough candles and potpourri to last a lifetime, and something edible is a "practical" gift (unless you're on a diet). I was looking for an idea of what to make when Bruce and I stopped at Cracker Barrel Sunday night for dinner. They had a sign on the table advertising coca cola cake. Right then and there I should have asked if they had a cake to go, but nooooo, I got the bright idea to make it myself. As I've said in previous postings, I'm not a cook, but unfortunately I keep forgetting that fact.
The first batch of cupcakes I made was an absolute disaster. When I Googled the recipe, I got several hits on making them from scratch. The recipes were pretty involved and included ingredients you don't normally keep around the house like buttermilk. But then I stumbled on one of those "quick" recipes that said to pour a can of coke into a box of cake mix and bake. Easy peesy. Wrong! Remember those science fair projects where you made a volcano from baking soda and vinegar to get an eruption? That's what this was like only in chocolate. It took me forever to chip this stuff out of the pan. I think you could lay bricks with it.
The second batch was better, but still weird. They took forever to firm up and had the dense consistency of an undercooked brownie. Luckily when I frosted them and added a little miniature coke candy, they looked pretty cute.
We ended up with quite a haul for everyone to take home. Two people weren't able to make it, because we had some severe winter storm warnings (which didn't pan out), so we shared their treats as our dessert. Yum! Next year, I'm calling a caterer.
