Our family's birthday cake
Greg’s birthday is coming up. And it never fails, all my boys ONLY want Tunnel of fudge cake.
Greg has had this cake since he was in Vietnam. His mom used to make them and ship them to him, wrapped in tin foil, and in a fruit cake tin. By the time he got it, it had been a month. And he said it was as good as the day it was made. Kind of scary, actually!
It’s the 1966 Pillsbury bake-off winner. And it IS a winner. My friend, Kathy Langnehs is in the finals this year! I’m SO excited! Imagine, her name and her recipe her Pecan Thumbprint Cookies will be SO famous!!!!
You can make it as is, but I do a few things different. And here are my tips after making it several times a year for 29 years:
I only use 2 cups of flour, while their recipe calls for 2-1/4.I use pecans instead of walnuts.Take the butter out of the fridge for at least an hour. It’s hard to beat, unless it’s really soft.And we bake for 50 minutes. I usually have to use a knife all around the sides to loosen the sides. And all around the inner sides, around the center post. It sticks really bad. We normally don’t frost it, or use the glaze, unless it falls apart when I take it out of the pan. In which case, I piece it back together and glaze it. Nobody cares. It ALL gets eaten. And it’s awesome re-heated in the microwave with ice cream in the days to follow.Notice the only liquid is butter and eggs. So it’s important to follow the directions on slowly adding and beating.I hope you enjoy it!http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/showrecipe.aspx?rid=11510