This post has been sponsored by Bake from Scratch and Bob’s Red Mill as a part of their Better Baking Academy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Daniel always seems to come home with a treat in the grocery bag. You would think that the mounds of baked goods that sit on my counter daily would be enough to fill his sweet tooth. It isn’t, apparently. The thing about Daniel is he craves the nostalgic treats from his childhood and more often than not, I’ll see a box of zingers poking out of the paper bag after his Sunday morning run.
There’s something so nostalgic about a Zinger. It’s a chocolate cake, filled with sweet cream and topped with a fudgy chocolate frosting. Lord help us all – they’re delicious. But – we surely can make them better, right? Spoiler alert – we can, we will, and we have.
Bake from Scratch magazine in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill is continuing their Better Baking Academy this year. And, I’m lucky enough to be a part of it for all of 2021 (squeal!). As most of you know, my love for Bob’s Red Mill runs deep. If you’re looking for quality flours – this is the one for you. It also doesn’t hurt that they’re a Portland company and a hop skip and a jump away from my house. This month is all about this Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake. Yes, we put cream cheese in the batter because we’re good enough and we deserve this tangy decadence.
I’m using this as a base recipe for these Chocolate homemade Zingers. The cake is sturdy enough for us to fill and top and hold in one hand while we scroll through Instagram with the other.
The recipe goes like this – We’re going to cream, cream, and cream some more – butter and sugar. It’s going to look white and fluffy. Pound cake lifts because we first lifted the butter and sugar with air. So, we add our room temperature eggs one at a time that will do their part to add lift too. We alternate dry ingredients with a warm cream cheese ganache – yes, you read that right.
Once the cake has cooled, we’ll cut off the edges and slice the top right off to make clean little zingers. But, please place those yummy edges into a freezer bag and place in the freezer for when you inevitably get the urge to make cake balls, okay?
A slice here and a dig there and we’ll fill them with this too-good-to-be-true-filling. Frost with a rich chocolate frosting, and you have yourself a homemade zinger. Worth the wait, worth the work, worth the dishes. Will this curb Daniel’s sweet tooth? The answer is… maybe.
But as for me and my sweet tooth? It’s a resounding YESSSSS.
Chocolate Zinger-Inspired Mini Cakes
Cream filled rich chocolate cakes topped with chocolatey frosting.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 18 cakes 1x
Ingredients
Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake,
1 (8-ounce) package (227 grams) cream cheese, cubed and softened
4 ounces (114 grams) 60% cacao dark chocolate, finely chopped
1¼ cups (106 grams) Dutch process cocoa powder
½ cup (120 grams) boiling water
1 tablespoon (13 grams) vanilla extract
1½ cups (340 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (600 grams) granulated sugar
6 large eggs (300 grams), room temperature
3 cups (375 grams) Bob’s Red Mill unbleached white all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (6 grams) kosher salt
2 teaspoons (3 grams) instant espresso powder
½ teaspoon (2.5 grams) baking powder
Cream Filling,
½ cup (120 grams) whole milk
2 ½ tablespoons (22 grams) Bob’s Red Mill unbleached white all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (8 grams) vanilla extract
½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
Chocolate Frosting,
1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons (22 grams) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla
1 ½ cup (185 grams) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon (14.5 grams) heavy cream, at room temperature
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake,
Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C).In the top of a double boiler, place cream cheese and chocolate. Cook, without stirring, over simmering water until chocolate is almost melted. Gently stir until combined. Remove from heat. Add 1¼ cups (106 grams) cocoa and ½ cup (120 grams) boiling water, whisking until combined. Whisk in vanilla.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, espresso powder, and baking powder. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture in three additions alternately with chocolate mixture, beating just until combined after each addition and stopping to scrape sides of bowl.
Spray a 9 x 13 2-inch cake pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper with a 1-inch overhang. Clip the overhang with metal clips on either side to hold down. Pour in the batter and smooth until even.
Bake until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes, loosely covering with foil to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
For the Filling,
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the whole milk and flour all at once. Whisk constantly until a thick paste appears. Remove from the heat and add in the vanilla. Mix vigorously until smooth. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the paste and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, add in the butter and granulated sugar. Beat on high for about 10 minutes until white and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl every few minutes. While still beating, add in the cooled paste one spoonful at a time making sure it’s completely incorporated before the next addition. Then continue to beat on high for another 5-7 minutes. The mixture should be fluffy, and all the sugar granules will have completely dissolved.
Place the filling in a piping bag and cut out a dime sized opening.
For the Frosting,
In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, add in the butter, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Beat together on low just until incorporated. Add in the powdered sugar and continue to mix on low for about 30 seconds until the powdered sugar has dissolved. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix while streaming in the heavy cream. Mix until well combined, about 30 more seconds.
Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a 789-frosting tip.
Assembly,
Cut the edges off of the cooled pound cake. Gently and slowly level off the top “crust” of the cake making sure to not go too deep. Then, cut the cake in half lengthwise, and cut about 1 ¼ inch thick strips going across the lengthwise cut.
With a paring knife, cut out a long strip in the center of each slice lengthwise and remove excess cake leaving a place for the filling.
Fill the opening to the top with the cream filling.
With the serrated end of the tip, pipe the chocolate frosting over the top of each cake. If you don’t have this tip, chill the cakes for 15 minutes in the fridge and spread the frosting on the top of the cakes with an offset spatula and make a design by running a fork across the top.
Enjoy!
Notes
Keeps for 2-3 days in an air-tight container
These look AMAZING! I love Zingers! And once in a blue moon still eat one, especially on road trips! I cannot wait to try your recipe!
Oh my gosh, yes! Total road trip food! Thanks, Elizabeth!
Do have a recipe for Vanilla Zingers instead of the Chocolate ones? Thanks