I’ve had a few hankerings since being pregnant, and one of them was those awful for you snack cakes! I had a recipe for Faux Hostess Cupcakes, that I had printed years ago and I thought hmmm…aren’t Suzy Qs basically cupcakes in a different form? So I decided to give it a go. I looked for the original source of the recipe, but it has been published & republished so many times over the years, I can’t figure out where it came from!
Here’s what you need!
Cake ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons cake flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons water
Filling ingredients:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup (I tried this with brown rice syrup & it didn’t come out right for me!)
2 Tablespoons water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly grease your pans (or use baking/cooking spray).
I used 12 mini loaf pans and the cakes were fairly thick. I made them again using the loaf pans, as well as various other pans (mini springform pans, mini cake pans, jumbo muffin pans, muffin pans) for a total of about 20 pans. This is pretty flexible, you can use whatever you have!
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks, canola oil, 1/2 cup sugar and water until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
In a clean medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Add 2 Tablespoons of sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff & glossy (not dry.)
Beat 1/4 of the whites into the batter to lighten the mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.
Divide the batter into your pans. I used a 1 1/4 T cookie scoop! They rise a good bit, so you can just barely cover the bottom of the pans, or fill them more for thicker cakes. It’s up to you.
Bake until the cakes spring back in the center when lightly touched. This took anywhere from 7 minutes for my smaller cakes, up to 13 minutes for the largest ones.
Let the cakes cool slightly, then remove them to a rack to cool completely. While they’re cooling, work on the filling!
Use a double boiler if you have one. If not, bring water to a simmer in a pot, and place a heat proof bowl over top (water shouldn’t actually touch the bottom of the bowl.) Combine all ingredients in the bowl and beat on high speed until thick and fluffy, about 6-7 minutes.
This next step is important! When the filling is thick and fluffy, remove the bowl from your double boiler (use a pot holder to grab it & something underneath too!) Continue to beat the filling until it has cooled a good bit. Make sure you get the bottom and the sides of the bowl.
I’ve forgotten to do this & ruined the filling, ending up with separated & gross filling, yuck!
When the cakes and filling are both cooled, just spread filling on one cake & top with another. This was my attempt at making the filling with brown rice syrup. My daughter said it was like glue…tasty, delicious glue, LOL!
They’re not quite like the real thing, and they’re certainly not health food, but they are tasty, fun to make, homemade vs. processed, and of course, frugal!
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 11, 7 and 4 year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. Check out Maria’s blog, Change-Diapers, about cloth diapering, and all things kids, motherhood & going green.
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