Whopper Cake - Book Review Plus Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Whopper Cake - Book Review Plus Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

June 16, 2009
Baking Desserts Gluten-Free or modifiable Kid Friendly Recipes

"Today is Grandma's birthday
and Granddad has an itchin'
to bake a whopper chocolate cake
and traumatize the kitchen"

They had me at "traumatize". Whopper Cake, by Karma Wilson and Will Hillenbrand, is a great children's book. The story is of a Grandpa who wants to make a cake for his wife, but has a little bit of trouble following the recipe. It is just too tempting for him to scale it up a hundred-fold or so. A delicious mess ensues.

The book ends with a (normal-scale) recipe for Whopper Cake. With my daughter's birthday approaching and the book in nightly rotation, it was obvious that we should make it for her big day. I can confirm, it makes a very moist, tasty chocolate sheet cake. You should buy this book for any kid that loves to cook with his or her family. Or any kid that loves cake.

The recipe didn't specify a frosting, but I was faced with three simple facts: (1) we had a lot of leftover cream cheese (2) my wife loves cream cheese frosting (3) cream-cheese frosting is super easy to make. Here's what I came up with:

Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting
Enough for a 9"x13" sheetcake
Vegetarian and gluten-free (the icing, not the Whopper Cake!); not vegan

  • 12 ounces good quality chocolate chips (Ghiradelli works well)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 ounces cream cheese (I used the whipped kind, but a denser one should work fine too, just break it up into cubes), at room temperature
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  1. Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler or microwave. To microwave, combine in a microwave-safe bowl and cook 1 minute at a time, stopping to carefully stir in between. This is my favorite way to do it, you just have to be sure not to overcook or you can scorch it.
  2. Allow to cool a bit, so it won't cook and curdle the cream cheese.
  3. Whisk the cream cheese and salt into the melted chocolate. Keep whisking until smooth.
  4. Refrigerate for an hour or so until firm enough to spread.
  5. Yum.

You Might Also Like

Chocolate-Chunk Bread Pudding - Recipe Chocolate-Chunk Bread Pudding - Recipe Rustic Peach and Nectarine Crostata - Recipe Rustic Peach and Nectarine Crostata - Recipe Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with a Pumpkin Seed Topping - Recipe Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with a Pumpkin Seed Topping - Recipe

11 Comments

zoe
Truly a whopper cake! Love it!
herbivore=only eats plant products
The term "herbivore" in the title of your blog is very misleading. An herbivore does not eat any animal products (cheese, butter, eggs included). That would be an omnivore.
Anh
I need to google "whopper cake" (haven't heard about it at all here down under). But it sure looks good!
Alessandra
Happy birthday to your daughter Michael! In regard to the name Herbivoracius, my first impression of it was that is was mostly a 'fun' name, like some non-vegetarians often call vegetarians/vegan and anyone who eats a little bit different...I have been called herbivore, brown bread, little bird, rabbit...all sort of names. I don't get offended, and I often use them myself to make myself understood (to some people - mostly those who say "here is the normal food and on this side the rabbit food...' these people need a fun approach or they can put you down!). Of course I am not a 'herbivore', rabbit, little bird or a slice of brown bread! My diet is larger that that. But certainly I would not use the word omnivore as I don't eat fish and meat. Also herbivores eat a variety of insects with their grass, so they are less vegetarian than me! What do you think?
The Hungry Mouse
Oh fantastic! I love it! Happy birthday to the little mouse. :D +Jessie
Michael Natkin
Alessandra's comment below sums it up for me - I think you are taking things a little too seriously if you are worried that the blog is called Herbivoracious, but I'm actually lacto-ovo vegetarian. At any rate this is the only negative comment I've received about it in almost 2 years of running the blog.
Jennifer
This is so great!!!!!! happy Birthday to the little one!
Deborah
I need to find that book for my daughter! Cake looks wonderful!
Michael Natkin
Thanks Deborah! You can find the book on Amazon, see the link at the top of the original article (https://herbivoracious.com//2009/06/whopper-cake-book-review.html)
Chocolate Cake Blog
Thanks for the recipe and link to the book. Yours cake looks delicious! :)
Spencer
That cake looks absolutely amazing! I reckon I could eat the whole thing on my own no problem!

Comments are closed.