Moon Pies...

Now, I’m not going to lie I have not a clue what to call these. My mom called them moon pies but that is beyond my generation. It was Labor Day weekend and my original plan was to make mini whoopie pies but instead of red velvet cake to use a chocolate cake.

Both my mom and I are not huge fans of chocolate and to us the cake had a burnt taste to it. To improve these little cakes we whipped up a batch of simple chocolate ganache (the one used on the Hostess with the Mostess cupcakes) and dunked the entire cake in chocolate. We tried just two rounds at first and put them on a cake circle covered in wax paper and into the freezer. Once the chocolate set I piped whipped topping and sandwiched the two together. The taste tester, my dad, said they were delicious but I found that they were quite difficult to eat because of the size. The chocolate had made the cakes thicker causing a higher “pie.” I knew I had to reduce the size of the pie so while I cut them down my mom took a cake round already dunked in chocolate and sliced it in half. Then piped some of the creme filling. That one also came out awesome but it did not have the chocolate on the inside. After cutting down and dipping the cakes in the chocolate let set in freezer for about 15 minutes. Then take a piping bag and pipe the creme filling. The amount truly depends on your preference but person I wouldn’t overload it because it would make it extremely difficult to eat.

Make sure to place in the freezer once they have been assembled for the chocolate begins to soften and serve cold. The guests at the party we went to loved eating them. We wrapped each one individually in wax paper and they were able to eat it with the paper assisting them. But don’t feel silly cutting them with a knife…it really helps!


Also as a side note, while making the mixture I noticed that the chocolate cake mix produced a thicker batter then the red velvett one and was able to scoop some onto a cookie sheet. These still didn’t work out as well as I would have liked but that could be because I put the baking temperature at 350 instead of 400.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
For cake:
1. 1 box chocolate cake mix
2. 3 eggs
3. ½ cup oil
4. ½ cup water
For creme filling:
1. 7.5 oz. marshmallow fluff
2. 2 sticks butter
3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4. 2 cups sifted powdered sugar

For chocolate ganache:
1. 4 oz. chocolate
2. 3 tablespoons butter
3. 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Directions:
1. Mix the cake mix, eggs, water and oil together in a large mixing bowl until fully combined.
2. Scoop about a tablespoon of batter into each cupcake tin (a little less then a tablespoon is recommended)
3. Bake for 8-9 minutes at 400 degrees
4. Invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
5. Melt 4 oz. of chocolate with 3 tablespoons of butter for 1 minute in the microwave. Add in 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup and stir until completely mixed.
6. Cut the cake rounds thinner if they came out too thick. Drop a cake round into the bowl of chocolate and completely submerge. Use a spoon of fork to remove and place on a sheet of wax paper to dry. Place a plate under, or a cake round if you have, so you can easily lift to place into the freezer. Repeat with the rest, or as many as you need.
7. Once chocolate is completely hardened pipe the filling onto one side. Match up with a cake round of equal size and place on top. Wrap in wax paper and store in freezer.