Tunnel Of Fudge Cake Recipe A Real Winner

Dear Laura: This Tunnel of Fudge Cake recipe is for a cake I can no longer make because it calls for a box of Double Dutch Fudge Frosting mix (Pillsbury, I think), which is no longer made. In fact, I cannot find dry frosting mix anywhere. The kicker is that even if I did, the note at the bottom of the recipe says that particular mix is essential for the success of the cake.

I’m hoping that you can either adapt the recipe somehow or that you have a recipe to make a dry Double Dutch Fudge frosting base to use as a substitute. It’s a delicious, fudgy bundt cake that I miss. Thanks very much for your time and for your column. - Cyndi, Nine Mile Falls.

Dear Cyndi: You’re in luck. An updated version of Tunnel of Fudge Cake was included in Pillsbury’s Classic Number 75, “100 Prize Winning Bake-Off Recipes.” Here it is:

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Cake:

1-3/4 cups margarine or butter, softened

1-3/4 cups granulated sugar

6 eggs

2 cups powdered sugar

2-1/4cups all-purpose or unbleached flour

3/4 cup cocoa

2 cups chopped walnuts (see cook’s notes)

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan.

In a large bowl, beat margarine and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add powdered sugar; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. By hand, stir in remaining cake ingredients until well blended.

Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 58 to 62 minutes. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 hour; invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.

In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients until well blended. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. Garnish as desired. Store tightly covered.

Yield: 16 servings.

Cook’s Notes: Nuts are essential for the success of this recipe.

Since this cake has a soft tunnel of fudge, an ordinary doneness test cannot be used. Accurate oven temperature and baking time are critical.

At altitudes above 3,500 feet, increase flour to 2-1/4 cups plus 3 tablespoons.

Dear Laura: I have a Pumpkin Caramel Flan recipe that calls for pumpkin puree (not pie filling). I would like to try this recipe but can’t figure out, what is pumpkin puree? Thank you. - Cora, Spokane.

Dear Cora: Pumpkin puree is plain unseasoned canned pumpkin or fresh cooked and pureed pumpkin. To make your own, microwave, steam or cover and bake peeled pumpkin. Drain well, then put through a blender, food processor or food mill to make a thick, smooth puree. The canned version is usually sold near canned fruits and vegetables and is often displayed next to cans of pumpkin pie filling.

Dear Laura: A number of years ago, several colleagues and I entered a vegetable pickling contest. We used crocks and salt only, no brine or vinegar. The salt and vegetables created their own brine. I’ve since become hazy on the process and find no reference to the technique anywhere.

Maybe you can help. I’d like to know: What kind of salt - pickling or just noniodized salt? Which vegetables? How long do the vegetables “work”? Is there anything else to the process? Thank you for any assistance. - Jeff, Spokane.

Dear Jeff: You are right. Vegetables may be preserved by fermenting in a salt brine. The most common example is sauerkraut. Directions for this process are given in most food preservation books, including Chioffi and Mead’s “Keeping the Harvest,” (Storey Publishing), the “Ball Blue Book Guide To Home Canning, Freezing and Dehydration” (Alltrista Corp.) and assorted publications from Cooperative Extension services (Spokane County: 533-2048, Kootenai County: 667-6426).

These references recommend pure granulated salt or canning and pickling salt. Table salt is safe, but its anti-caking additives may make the solution cloudy. Iodized salt tends to darken the pickles. Rock salt dissolves too slowly.

Chioffi and Mead list cabbage, Chinese cabbage, turnips, rutabagas, lettuce, small whole green tomatoes, snap beans, small beets, beet tops, small carrots, cauliflower, mustard and turnip greens, kale, and cucumbers as candidates for successful home fermentation in salt brine. Leafy vegetables will form their own brine when salted as for kraut.

Other vegetables do better with a weak salt, vinegar and water brine. For this brine, combine 1/2 pound of salt and 1 cup of vinegar (4 to 6 percent acid) with each gallon of water. When kept in chunks or whole, firmer vegetables such as string beans and carrots are best if blanched 3 to 6 minutes before brining.

The fermentation process will require 2 to 6 weeks. At that point the bubbling will stop and vegetables will have a pleasant acid taste. They are ready for serving or bottling and processing for longer storage. See one of the above mentioned resources for tips on equipment, techniques and safe processing times.

The following recipe from “Keeping the Harvest” will get you started.

Sauerruben (Sour Turnips)

5 pounds prepared young purple-topped turnips or rutabagas

3 tablespoons granulated pickling salt

Select sweet, young, juicy, purple-topped turnips or rutabagas. Peel, shred and weigh. Mix 3 tablespoons of pickling salt with each 5 pounds of grated turnips.

Pack into clean, nonreactive containers. Press down gently after packing, to remove air pockets. Tamping layer-by-layer should be unnecessary if the turnips are juicy. Cover and weigh down as you would for sauerkraut to keep grated turnips under the juice and protected from exposure to air.

Enough juice should form to cover the turnips within 24 hours. If not, add 2-1/2 percent brine to cover. (For 2-1/2 percent brine, combine 1/3 cup granulated pickling salt with 1 quart of water.)

Keep at room temperature (68 to 72 degrees). It may take from four to six weeks to ferment. Be sure turnips remain covered with brine and remove scum as it forms. Replace the cloth with a clean one and scald the cover daily.

When fermentation is complete, heat the sauerruben to simmering, and hot-pack into clean, hot canning jars. Cover with its own juice, leaving -inch head space. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath 15 minutes for pints or 20 minutes for quarts.

xxxx

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Laura Carnie The Spokesman-Review