Some Kind Of Cake

There is something about being holed up inside the house, fingers curled around a hot cup of tea for both heat and caffeine, a worn afghan wound around your legs,  while the wind blows wildly outside, slipping through unseen gaps in the windows as snowflakes swirl in hazy late afternoon light .

There is something about being all cozy and warm…that made me crave cake.

(This is me, not getting skinny.)

I wasn’t sure what I wanted, other than something I could dig into while it was warm from the oven. I think what I had in my head was an old memory of a cake, perhaps made by my mom, possibly sampled at a school or church pot-luck, but it involved cake and swirls of pie filling.

Digging myself out of my hole in the sofa, I searched through cookbooks and recipe cards. I didn’t find that recipe, but I found this one, unnamed, scribbled on a note card from somewhere or someone.

It was simple:

1 can of pie filling (your choice)

1 box of cake mix (your choice)

3 eggs, beaten.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13 pan. 

Combine ingredients. Pour into pan.  Bake 30 minutes. Eat.

 

That’s it. That’s all there was to it. And my brain gleefully whispered “Black. Forest.”

I dug out a box of Pillsbury Devil’s Food Cake (my brand of choice), a can of cherry pie filling, and quickly whisked three eggs together, then stirred in the first two ingredients.

And: ta-da!

This cake is very moist and firm, and doesn’t need a frosting. I suppose you could dust it with powdered sugar to fancy it up if you wish, but it didn’t need it. This is a very unpretentious little cake, whatever it’s called. This is some kind of good!

I can imagine this with yellow cake and apple pie filling, or, ooh, maybe white cake with blueberry filling, or even lemon curd (although I might just swirl that through the cake/egg mixture….hmmm.) The possibilities!