*Ding Dongs

Cake:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups hot coffee
3 cups granulated sugar
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1-1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1-1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

vanilla frosting - your favorite recipe or store-bought

Chocolate coating:
1 cup heavy cream
1 TB butter
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Cake:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease two 10-inch cake pans, line bottoms with wax paper cut to fit, and grease the wax paper.
In a bowl, combine the 1/3 cup chocolate chips with the hot coffee. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture smooth.
In a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat eggs until thickened. Add oil, buttermilk and vanilla, and melted chocolate-coffee mixture to eggs and beat until well mixed. Add dry ingredients carefully (to avoid lumps of flour in the wet mix.) Beat on medium speed just until combined well.
Divide batter between prepared pans. Place pans on rack in center of oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.  Cool completely in pans before removing cakes from pans. Carefully peel off the wax paper.

Using a round cookie cutter, drinking glass or clean aluminum can, cut circles out of the cake layers. Space them as close as you can to get the most little cakes possible. Give the cake scraps to your kids, spouse or roommates! Use a sharp knife to cut out a small circle from the top of one of the small cakes. Left the plus out and scoop a little cake out of the hole. Put a dollop of frosting into the hole and put the cake plug back in place, making it level with the top of the cake. Repeat with the rest of the cakes.

Chocolate coating:
Heat the cream and butter in a pan over medium heat. Heat to boiling stirring frequently. Put the 12oz. chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate. Stir the contents until the chocolate is melted and the coating is smooth.

Finale:
Put the cakes on a cooling rack set into a cookie sheet to catch drips. Cover the tops and sides of each cake with  the chocolate coating, using a brush or a spoon (the back of a spoon works well to cover the sides of the cakes.)  Allow the chocolate coating to set and then serve!

*Arrollado con Dulce de Leche

Ingredients:
sweetened condensed milk, 2 14-oz. cans
milk or cream (to thin)
(The above is to make the dulce de leche caramel sauce. In some stores' international section you may be able to find canned dulce de leche, which you could use instead.)

6 eggs, whites and yolks separated
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk, warm
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum or rum extract
1 tsp honey
2 cups cake flour

rum, or simple syrup (see below)
confectioner's sugar
2 cups whipped cream
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
sprinkles or chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Heat the sweetened condensed milk in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water. Heat and stir the s.c.m. until it caramelizes and turns a rich brown - this takes about 1-1/2 to 2 hours. As the s.c.m. caramelizes you may need to thin it with a bit of milk or cream to keep it a spreadable consistency. Remove double boiler from heat, leaving the dulce de leche in the top pan to stay warm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 11 x 15 x 1 jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with wax paper that is slightly large than the pan and spray paper with the cooking spray.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl of a stand mixer until foamy. Add the sugar slowly and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, and continue beating for 7-10 minutes. The batter should be thick and smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the warm milk, honey and rum or rum extract. Add this mixture to the mixer, alternating with the cake flour. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until tester inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, transfer cake with wax paper to a work surface. Brush over the cake with rum, or if you prefer with simple syrup. Sprinkle the cake with confectioner's sugar. Hold one of the long edges of the wax paper and roll the cake towards you, peeling away the wax paper as you go. When the cake is rolled up, wrap the wax paper around it to hold it closed. Allow the cake to cool completely.

Once cooled, unroll the cake gently. Spread over the cake half of the dulce de leche sauce and then the whipped cream. Roll the cake back up and transfer to a serving dish, seam side down. Spread the remaining dulce de leche over the top and sides of the roll. Heat the chocolate chips in a heat proof dish in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes, until they are melted and smooth.  Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the cake decoratively. Garnish with sprinkles or chopped nuts.

Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Heat in saucepan to a boil, stirring to dissolve all the sugar. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before spreading on cake. Leftover syrup can be stored for a week in the fridge.