How Far Would You Go For A Homemade Ring Ding?

When I was young, there was nothing quite like a Drakes's Ring Ding.  (Depending on where you live, you might know them as Hostess Ding Dongs, Hostess Big Wheels or even Hostess King Dons.  The original, however, was the Ring Ding by Drake.)  Whichever name you remember them by...you certainly remember them.  That's why you are reading this.

I got to thinking about them recently.  I'm not sure why...but they were just on my mind. First, I was thinking about Devil Dogs, but then the Ring Ding moved in and took over.  (This kind of thing happens to me quite more than you can imagine.)

The Ring Ding (Ding Dong, King Don, Big Wheel) was a chocolaty, hockey puck-shaped, cake of goodness with a creamy white filling and wrapped in a thin sheet of foil.  Ring Dings were good.  I remember them being especially good refrigerated.  In my family of four kids, we got them VERY infrequently and if we did, they did not last long.  In the 70's, my mom went through a stage where she was reducing the amount of sugar in our diets, because sugar caused hyperactivity back then.  Ring Dings were pure surge, and for that reason, off limits.



Well, I do know that you can still buy them...I don't, but you can.  Most people (parents) like me don't like them now because of all the chemicals (See here for actual list.) 

I got this idea that I wanted to figure out how to make them.  However, I wanted to make them from scratch, without all the junk they put in them.  (The same thing happened to me with Twinkies a couple of months ago.  One night, a group of friends somehow got to talking about the shelf life of a Twinkie ... and there it was.  I had to figure out how to make them from scratch.  That story is for another day.)

Ok, back to the Ring Dings.  So, first, I did my research on them.  Newman E. Drake, the founder of the Drake Bakeries created the delicious treat many, many years ago.   On the Drake website, it said the Newman started his career in baking at age 28 by selling his pound cake by the slice in Brooklyn, back in 1888. (More on his fascinating story here.)  Somehow, in his success, he created the Ring Ding.  God bless him.  Drakes also created a number of other memorable products (i.e. Yodels, Devil Dogs & Yankee Doodles)

Next I researched how to replicate this masterpiece called the Ring Ding.  The cake is essentially a devil's food cake with an outer coating is a chocolate and a creamy white filling.  I knew that this would be kind of tricky though.  For instance, there are many different kinds of white filling, and I wanted mine to be just like the actual filling.  The chocolate coating was another mystery...ganache or chocolate paraffin.  So I started online...

Most of the recipes out there are for Ring Ding Cake, which is a standard cake that tastes similar to the delicious treat. However, I wanted to figure out how to make the real thing....hockey puck and all.  This was no easy endeavor...in research AND execution. 

I wanted something that tasted and looked like what I remembered.  My recipe below is a conglomeration of 3 different recipes that I found online: smitten kitchen (cake and filling), Illinois Times (chocolate ganache frosting), thepioneerwoman.com (hockey puck instructions). 

I decided to make Ring Dings on Halloween this year for a pre-trick or treat party we were going to in the afternoon.  (I needed an excuse for making them because my sweet wife is smart enough to know that if we make them for no reason, we will just eat them all.)

I will warn you...this took most of a Sunday for me.  It was messy, very challenging, but very interesting...and fun.  And I learned a lot!  So will you.  There ARE some things I would still like to improve.  For instance, the hockey puck size and shape was not what I wanted and the ganache was too thick.  (If you have any suggestions, please post.) The flavor was, however, UNBELIEVABLE!

So lets get started.

Ring Dings- THE Recipe

Cake Ingredients

• 3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate (I used Ghirardelli)
• 1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee  (I used Starbucks VIA Italian Roast [Extra Bold])
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Start by preheating the oven to 385° F.  (I tried other temps, but this worked best. In fact, I checked my internal oven with a laser/infrared thermometer and my oven was spot on.)

*Grease AND flour muffin pans 12 per baking batch.  (Ok, I learned a lot about this today and will share my findings later.)

Boil 1 1/2 cups water and stir in instant coffee.  I took a measuring cup with 1 1/2 cups of water and microwaved it until visibly boiling.  Then I added instant coffee.

Mix chocolate into hot coffee, and stir until dissolved and a smooth liquidy form.  (My chocolate came in a "chip" form.  If yours is block, you will need to chop it into very small pieces first.)

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. (I put this in my Kitchen Aid mixer and put the whisking attachment on low while I added each ingredient.) 

"In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer)." (I used a handheld for at least 5 minutes and it never got lemony colored.) 



Is this considered lemony?

Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate/coffee mixture to eggs, beating until combined well.

Add this to the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well. (Now, this part was on the verge of disaster.   My Kitchen Aid mixer is large (6 qt), but not large enough for this task.  When I turned it on low, it would reach high tide and drip down the sides immediately.  So, I ended up lowering the bowl until the mixture was partially blended, then I was able to raise the bowl for the final mixing.)

Most cooking shows do not show you this part...

Add 1/3 cup of mix to Texas muffin pan size.

Notice, that this is not floured.  See disclaimer.

"He's bound to spill something."

Bake for exactly 11 minutes until toothpick in center comes out clean.  (I have a Raytek digital infrared thermometer and my oven is exactly on...so check your temp and adjust if necessary.)

Let them rest for 2 minutes before removing from tins. (As you will see from my photos, they were NOT coming out of the tins easily.  So this is where I learned about greasing and flouring.)

When it says, "non-stick", what does that actually mean?

I have a lot to learn.

*Greasing and Flouring-  (Update: Spray Pam Happy Banking.  Worked like a charm)

I had virtually no success with just greasing.  I have non-stick pans, but honestly I do not know what I am doing, so I researched this and this is what I learned...and it definitely helped, but the Ring Dings never just fell out of the pan.  I compared Crisco and original Pam for this, and the Pam worked a bit better.  Spray each muffin slot with a quick blast, being sure that the whole muffin slot is coated.  Then, take a pinch (probably 1/2 tsp of flour) and drop in every muffin slot.  Then turn and tap the tin until all the muffin slots are lightly and evenly coated with flour.  Then, turn the muffin tin upside down and tap out any remaining flour.  Even so, I still had to coax the muffins out with a spoon, but they did not tear anymore.

Sprayed, dusted, and dumped.

Marshmallow, or Seven Minute Frosting (Why did I never know about this before?)

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl.

Set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. (Ahh, the name "Seven Minute Frosting" I can be slow to catch on.)

Several minutes later...nice frothy texture.

Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. (Use frosting the day it is made.)

This is beautiful...and delicious.

Next, you will fill each Ring Ding cake with the filling.  Start by scooping out the icing into a large (1 Gallon) ziplock bag.

This is messy...no matter what.

For me, this was a temporary tank to fill the small metal injector.  I cut about a 1" corner off and would use this to refill the injector.  Still messy, but way better than trying to scoop it.  I think that I need a more professional pastry or piping bag.  For now, this is what I got...

See...that's not so bad.

There are two ways to accomplish this next part.  You can either poke a hole (with a chopstick) and dig out room for the filling, OR you can do what I did and that is just stick the tip of the injector into the cake and fill.  As you inject, you will feel the Ring Ding growing and you do not want to overfill, or break through the other side.  Any mistakes can be eaten before anyone else notices.  As I fill, I slowly pull the injector out, to make room for the filling.  As a result. it will ooze out on one side. That is perfectly fine.

(Update:  I cut a slice down the side, like a pocket, being careful not to cut all the way through.  Then I opened it up and spooned a heap inside.  this appears to be an easier option.)

Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper, as there still a little "stick" to them.

Ganache Frosting Recipe

• 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Ghirardelli 60 percent cacao chips are what I used)
• 2 cups heavy cream (not ultra pasteurized..not sure why this was included)

Prepare the ganache by heating the cream in a heavy pan to just below a simmer, stirring constantly to help prevent sticking.

Remove pan from the heat and add the chocolate.

Turn heat to low and return pan to stove, whisking the mixture until smooth.

Keep over lowest heat possible while you coat the cakes.  Use spoon to pour over cakes.  (There is probably a better way to do this, like to dip each on in the ganache.  Mine was a bit too thick to do this though.)

When finished, place entire tray in fridge to set chocolate.

Then stand aside!  If you are between anybody and your Ring Dings, you will be run over.

As I said, I took these to a Halloween party and everyone raved about how authentic they tasted.  So I still want to master the hockey puck and I could definitely get some help on the ganache coating.  For now, the flavor still rings in my brain, and I care about nothing.  Thank you, Newman Drake.  You are an inspiration.

Schanck Family Tollhouse Pancakes

Who says you can't have cookies for breakfast?

When I grew up, my sister Emily turned me on the the concept of M&M pancakes. It seemed that the only time we were allowed to have them when one of her friends would spend the night.

As a parent, I was sure to introduce these to my kids right from the start.  For us, Saturday morning is pancakes.  And since pancakes are a pretty simple endeavor, I wanted to learn to make them from scratch.  Armed with my wife's Better Homes New Cook Book, I learned pretty much the standard for pancakes.  Sometimes, if we were out of M&M's, we would use chocolate chips instead.  Other times we experimented with Reece's Pieces, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips.

And then this idea came to me...I bet there is a recipe somewhere for Toll House Pancakes.  I Googled around and could come up with nothing.   So I thought, how do I make a real recipe for these?  I basically wanted to have Toll House cookies for breakfast, but how was I going to get away with it?  So I looked at the Toll House cookie recipe, and then I looked at the Better Homes pancake recipe...hmm.  What if?

To make a long story short, I merged these recipes back and forth until I came up with a great recipe incorporating the flavors of the Tollhouse cookie recipe with the basic chemistry of the pancake recipe.  Now, whenever one of our kids has a friend over to spend the night, they are introduced to the Schanck Family Tollhouse Pancake Recipe.

Here is a comparison of the original recipes:

Nestle Toll House Cookies           BH&G Pancakes

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour              1 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tsp baking soda                         2 Tsp baking powder

¾ cup granulated sugar                1 Tbsp granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar         

1 Tsp salt                                      ¼ Tsp salt

2 large eggs                                  1 egg

1 cup butter                                   1 cup milk

1 Tsp vanilla extract                      2 Tbsp cooking oil

Thus, the experimentation began.  The main differences were in the leavening agent (baking soda vs. baking powder), the fat (butter vs. milk and oil), the flavoring (vanilla), and then pure quantities of everything.

Since I was essentially making a pancake recipe, I used the BH&G one as my baseline and reached into the Toll House recipe for adaptation.  My kids and wife were the testers.  After months of going back and forth, I ended up with this recipe.  Once you have seen both recipes, it does not look so impressive, but it was the tinkering that made us find the right mix.  I even tried different kinds of flours..like high-gluten to see what would happen.  Since our family is moving towards whole foods, I was trying to improve the basic ingredients as well.  The beauty of this is that it divides the recipe into dry and wet ingredients, so that you can divide the responsibility of the kids helping.  (In our family, the wet ingredients are cooler, because you can crack eggs.)

Schanck Family Tollhouse Pancakes

Ingredients:

Dry
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp light brown sugar
4 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Tsp teaspoons salt

Wet
2 egg yolks (beaten)
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (not imitation)

Secret
2 egg whites
1/4 Tsp Cream of Tartar
Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Morsels

Other Ingredients for table:
Salted Butter (room temperature is best)
Syrup

Instructions:

Preheat skillet to 325 degrees.  (If you are making a larger batch, or are not serving the pancakes immediately, preheat oven to 150 degrees and place oven safe plate in oven.)

Separate eggs.  (It is ideal to let egg whites stand at room temperature for 30 minutes so that they will beat up higher and faster than cold egg whites.)

In a mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients (EXCEPT Cream of Tartar and chocolate chips).

In a different mixing bowl, mix egg yolks, milk, oil, and vanilla.

In yet another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy.  Add cream of tartar.   Beat until stiff peaks.

Fold egg white mixture into wet bowl.

Add wet to dry, all at once.

Stir slowly till blended, but not too much...lumpy is ok.  Let batter sit for a few minutes to absorb moisture.

Using 1/3 cup measure, scoop batter and pour onto hot, oiled skillet (I use Pam Canola on an electric skillet).


Hand place morsels into pancakes.  (We put between 7 and 10 on each pancake...depending on who gets this job.  (Faces and words are better.)


Almost ready to flip...wait...wait...wait...OK, FLIP!

When craters form, flip.

When second side is light brown, remove from skillet.

Place on warmed plate in oven until ready to serve.

Serve with (room temperature) butter and syrup.

Now, smile.

I dare you to try this for three weeks in a row in your family.  I bet you will find that you have created an untouchable family tradition.    If I dare make something different on a Saturday morning...well, you can guess what would happen...

Napoletano Pizza Dough (DOC designation*)

Several weeks ago my group, the Amateur Breadbaking Guild, took a field trip to a very special Italian restaurant in Virginia Beach to learn from the master how he prepares and cooks his pizza.  I have been to the restaurant (which will go unnamed) many times and have had lots of conversations about how they make their sauce and their dough.  As a budding breadmaker, I asked if he would mind teaching us his secret.  The owner and his wife were very gracious and very open to having our whole entourage participate (4 of us).

*This pizza would fall under the category of Napoletano pizza dough and would carry the DOC designation.  DOC stands for Demoninazione di Origine Controllata, which is an Italian governmental system that regulates the standards for Italian foods and beverages.  In this case it means that the dough adheres to the strict guidelines established by the Associazione della Vera Pizza Napoletana.  That's a lot of words that basically mean that the dough cannot contain sugar or oil.

Now you might find this strange, but sugar and oil are no-no's to authentic Italians.  I happened to have known this before, only because I asked if the owner used sugar in his dough...big mistake.  Lets just say he was gracious and allowed me to finish my meal.  Nevertheless, I warned the rest of the posse in Amateur Breadbaking Guild before we visited.

This simple dough makes a nice, thin crusted pizza with a good crunch to the bottom and a bite to the crust.  You will be proud to serve this to your guests/family.  Angelo cooks his pizza at 550 degrees for 3-4 minutes.  When you calculate the costs of this AND the quality of making this, you will consider never going out for pizza again.

Napoletano Pizza Dough Recipe

Makes five 10" Pizzas

28 oz High Gluten Flour (always weigh)
19 oz Cold Water
1 Tbsp Salt (Kosher)
1 Tsp Instant Yeast

Dry Ingredients

• Using the paddle attachment, on low, mix the flour and the salt together in your mixer.  I just let it keep running while I work on the wet ingredients.

Wet Ingredients

• Pour the yeast into the water and whisk until completely blended.

Pour the Wet Ingredients into the mixer, while it is running.  When it is completely incorporated (meaning that it is ALL stuck to the paddle), turn off your mixer, wet your hands under a faucet, and remove the dough from the paddle and put back into the bowl.  Replace the paddle with the dough hook and mix on low or medium low for 15 minutes.

How do you know whether its working?  First, after a minute or two, the dough should stick ONLY to the bottom of the bowl.   It kind of looks like a dough tornado.

If it is NOT sticking at all, add water, 1 tablespoon at at time (and 1 minute apart) until it looks like it will start sticking.  At first it will be all slimy on the outside, but after 30 seconds you should see the stick.

If it IS sticking to the sides AND the bottom, add flour, 1 heaping teaspoon at a time (and 1 minute apart) until it starts peeling from the sides.  At first it will be all dry and powdery on the outside, but after 30 seconds it will begin to get more absorbed.

After 15 minutes, turn the mixer off.  Cover your hands in flour and remove dough from hook and place on a generously floured surface.  Using a dough cutter, cut the dough into five 8-9 oz portions.

 As you weigh pieces, cut off smaller pieces to add or subract.  (As an aside, I covered my scale with some plastic wrap and dusted it with flour so that the scale did not become a stick mess.)

Pick up a dough ball and begin to knead it by turning the edges into the center.  Rotate and repeat until the outside of the dough ball is very smooth and the dusted flour is worked into the dough.  It is as if you are turning the dough inside out, over and over.

When the dough is ready, there should be a small seam on one side of the ball.  Place the ball, seam side down, on a part of your counter (no flour). Begin to roll it around your hands using the friction from the counter to push the dough underneath the ball towards the seam.  Make sure that the seam stays counter side down as you are doing this.  Basically, you are working the sides under the ball and into the seam, almost to the point where you can no longer see the seam.  (Angelo, can make the seam disappear...I could not.)

Heavily flour a container that you can fit all the balls into, or put them on a tray.  Make sure there is room for growth. (Please ignore my photo, because I took 2 of them out, and individually bagged them.)  Cover them and let them rise for about 3 hours.  Then, either freeze in ziplock bags (with more flour in them) or use.

They can be refrigerated for several days. 

One the day before you plan to use them, take them out of the freezer and place them in the fridge. 

On the day you plan to use them, pull them out of the fridge 3 hours to let them acclamate to room temperature and begin rising again.

Disclaimer:  What surprised me about this dough, was that my kids preferred this over all others that I have made.  I would have guessed that the sugar and the oil would have been welcome ingredients to their tastebuds.  However, my kids say now that they prefer homemade pizza to delivery, which to me is the greatest feeling.  When my daughter told a friend of hers (that was spending the night) that she likes her dad's pizza better than the local place, it was all worth it.  It is WAY less expensive and I enjoy making it.  I hope you, too, will have a similar story to tell one day.

Day 8- Finishing the Starter- Part 1

Well, the starter finally doubled.  Probably should have followed the directions more carefully the first time.  I would not be on Day 8 if that were the case.  Actually, I would prefer that directions are written with the simple-minded in mind...people just like me.  That is probably a discussion for another time though.

Back to the recipe.  It says to break the starter into 6 equal pieces.  The verb "break" is an interesting term for this, since it is very gummy and sticky.  I chose to flop it on to a cutting board and, using a wet knife, cut the blob into six pieces of random size.  (You have to keep wetting the knife, or you will wish that you had not used it.)

I transferred the six cutlets into a bowl.  Then, I added 1 pound of high gluten flour.  I had to look up how many ounces were in a pound since I could not remember and I use a digital scale.  Then, once I Googled it, and proceeded to weigh my flour. Just as I hit the 16 oz measurement, the scale went to pounds. Ahh.  Now I remember...

Then, I added 2 cups of room temperature water...which was supposed to be 70 degrees.  However, room temperature in my home is more like 80 degrees, which surprised me how cold the water felt at 70.

My Kitchen Aid mixer then went to town for a few minutes working the taffy into an interesting, sticky blend called a "thick sponge".  Then, I transferred this mess into the fridge for a 3-day hibernation.  Now, at this point, the starter can be used in dough.  It has to be reactivated just before it is used, though.  Basically, you add the flour/water mixture and the bacteria starts eating the sugars out and turning it into CO2...i.e. fluffiness.

Day 7- The Non Starter Starter

Ok, I have to admit that I had to go away for my 17th anniversary.  I was afraid to leave the starter out a total of 48 hours, and it had not risen one bit.  So I kind of punted.  I put the starter in the fridge overnight and pretended like a day had not gone by.

Then I pulled it out, let it reach room temperature.  Then mixed the flour water mixture in.

I learned something important, however, which frustrates me to no end.  Day 3 is supposed to be a repeat of Day 2, but here is how he words it...

Day 2-  Mix and knead until you have a ball about the same size as you had on the previous day.
Day 3- ...enough water to form a firm ball

Ok...my dough was never firm.  I added the exact amount of flour (I weigh instead of using volume because it can be so variable) and the exact amount of water and it was pretty gooey.  For 3 days!  Then I read again, and find the word "firm".  Its just like me.

At this point, I should probably start over, but I am going to give it a try.  I cut the dough in half and added the exact amount of flour and 1 tablespoon of water (instead of 3.)

Now, that is a firm ball.  I used more flour on the surface and kept my hands dusted with flour, because it was still very sticky.  But at least now I have a firm ball!

I pressed it back into its container and we will see what happens.