Milky Way cakes out of this world

Lee Etta Messick can't find her recipe for Milky Way Cake -- haven't we all been through that?

No more lost in space: Several readers located recipes.

Milky Way is a senior citizen of American candy bars. It was created in 1923 in the kitchen of Forrest Mars (Mars Inc.) to capitalize on the popularity of malted milk shakes. The core is chocolate-malt nougat, topped with caramel and milk chocolate.

Lee Etta of Goose Creek asked for a recipe that begins with a box cake mix. We got that as well as from-scratch versions, and all are somewhat different.

Jennifer Miller of West Ashley and Nancy DeWitt of Summerville both sent this recipe from the "Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor" cookbook by Anne Byrn (Workman, 2001).

Jennifer says it is delicious and also suggested that Snickers probably could be used in place of the Milky Ways, if you still have Halloween candy hanging around.

Milky Way Swirl Cake

Serves 16

For cake:

Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pan

Flour for dusting the pan

2 1/2 Milky Way bars (2.05 ounces each), sliced

2 tablespoons plus 1 cup water

1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix with pudding

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

For glaze:

2 1/2 Milky Way bars (2.05 ounces each), sliced

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons water

For the cake: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.

Place the 2 1/2 Milky Way bars and 2 tablespoons water in a medium-size saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring, until the candy bars melt and the mixture is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.

Place the cake mix, 1 cup water, melted butter and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well-combined.

Measure out 2/3 cup of the batter and pour it into the cooled candy bar mixture. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is smooth. Pour the plain cake batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the Milky Way mixture in a ring on top of the batter, making sure not to touch the sides of the pan. With a dinner knife, swirl through the batter to create a marbled effect. Do not scrape the bottom of the pan. Smooth out the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack to cool completely, 20 minutes more.

For the glaze, rinse out the saucepan and wipe it dry. Place the Milky Way bars in the saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the butter and water. Cook, stirring, until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Let the glaze cool for 10 minutes.

Slide the cake onto a serving platter. Spoon the glaze over the cake so that it drips down the sides. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Note: Store this cake in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature, for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Pati Thompson of Summerville writes, "The mind is a remarkable thing! When I saw this request, I remembered I had a copy of a cake that I clipped from the Indianapolis Star in the late '80s or early '90s. It is a from-scratch recipe, however, not a mix."

Milky Way Cake

1 cup butter, divided

8 Milky Way candy bars (2.05-ounce)

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup pecans, chopped

Milky Way frosting, optional (recipe follows)

Melt 1/2 cup of the butter; combine with candy bars in saucepan.

Place over low heat until melted, stirring constantly. Cool.

Cream together sugar and remaining 1/2 cup butter until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating very well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Combine buttermilk and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with flour, beating well after each addition.

Stir in candy bar mixture with pecans.

Pour into greased and floured 10- inch tub pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cake tests done.

Let cool in pan 1 hour, remove from pan and completely cool on wire rack.

Frost if desired.

Milky Way Frosting

4 Milky Way candy bars, approximately 8 ounces total

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 box (half of a 1-pound box) confectioner's sugar

Melt together candy bars and butter

Add milk and confectioner's sugar, blend well.

Spread on cooled cake.

A fairly similar recipe was contributed by Sue Cavanaugh of Dorchester County, although it didn't include pecans in the batter and the frosting was different. Sue got the recipe in the 1970s from her stepmother, Liz Fortenberry. Here's the frosting recipe, an alternative to the one above:

Milky Way Cake Frosting II

1/2 can large evaporated milk (5-7 ounces)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon butter

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup marshmallow creme

Combine milk, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil and boil hard for 4 minutes. Take off heat. Add chocolate pieces and marshmallow creme. Beat until desired spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cake.

Sue also found this super-easy (supersweet, too) recipe on the Web:

Milky Way Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 (15-ounce) jar caramel ice cream topping

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 (8-ounce) container Cool Whip or other nondairy whipping topping

2 Milky Way bars, cut up

Prepare cake according to package directions. Bake in a 9x13-inch pan for recommended time. When cake is done and while still warm, pierce all over with a fork. Pour the condensed milk and caramel topping over the whole cake. Allow cake to cool completely. Spread the Cool Whip over top of cake and sprinkle with the pieces of Milky Way bars. Refrigerate and serve.

Also thanks to Cheryl Cote of Summerville and Sara Peagler of Cross.

Apple Crisp

A couple of months ago, reader Sara Dwyer of e-mailed with a different sort of request. She had apples left over from a mountain trip and spotted an appealing recipe from the renowned Blackberry Farm in Tennessee. However, she balked at the 1 1/2 sticks of butter the recipe called for. So she asked if local nutritionist Joanne Milkereit, who has contributed to this column, would be interested in coming up with a healthier version.

Joanne obliged, saying the Apple Crisp recipe reminded her of Dutch Apple Pie. "Fortunately her recipe doesn't pile on the calories even more by starting with a bottom pie crust. The first thought that came to me was to reduce the volume of the topping and then reduce the proportion of butter to dry ingredients. So I checked a couple of cookbooks to get a better idea of usual additions to 6 apples."

So I sent the revisions to Sara, who tried it out and e-mailed back with the results.

Sara wrote, "I made this Blackberry Farm/Joanne-modified recipe using Grannys and Jonagold; using two different apples is a great balance and key to a great apple dish. Highly recommend that.

"The thing I found most remarkable/tasty was the lemon juice and zest -- it freshened up the taste -- loved it!

"I like half-inch pieces much better than slices; apples stay firmer.

"Two things I would do differently: the topping stayed dry -- floury -- in spots. Next time I will melt the butter and mix with dry ingredients before putting on top. I could/would cut back more on the sugar as the Jonagolds help in that department.

"I will make this again with these modifications; might even experiment with Splenda and a touch of molasses."

So here's the modified recipe:

Joanne's Skillet Apple Crisp

6 Granny Smith apples, or a combination of Granny Smiths and Jonagolds, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out with the tip of a knife

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 1/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided use

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1/3 to 1/2 cup butter, diced, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the apples in a large bowl. Add the vanilla seeds, brown sugar, cornstarch, zest and juice of first lemon, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon to the apples and toss to coat. Transfer the apple mixture to a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and set aside.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, oats, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, and the zest.

Add the butter and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until there are no pieces of butter left larger than small peas. Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake for 1 hour, until the apple filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm.

-- Adapted from "The Blackberry Farm Cookbook"

Who's got the recipe?

--Matt Martin of West Ashley would love the recipe for the deviled crab served at the former Jimmy Dengate's restaurant. He says it included red and green bell pepper, which he likes.

--Please help this Mount Pleasant reader: "I will have to travel for the holidays and will have little time to prepare side dishes. Do your readers have any recipes that can be made ahead, not cooked until I reach my destination (7 hours away), that can be transported in a large cooler?"

Last call:

--Joanne Summers of West Ashley seeks a recipe for "snow rockets," a treat for kids. They are tube-shaped cookies containing oatmeal and are dusted with powdered sugar.

--Adele Fralix of St. George would like recipes using Egg Beaters.

Looking for a recipe or have one to share? Reach Teresa Taylor at 937-4886, e-mail food@postandcourier.com or write The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.