How many of you have heard of King Arthur Flour, Sisters and Brothers?
I remember seeing it in stores as I was growing up and my mother saying "That's the best flour there is but we can't afford it" as she reached for another brand. That feeling stuck with me throughout my life. King Arthur was something I always looked at, wishing it were on sale and I had an amazing coupons. I just didn't now how versatile the company was and how good their products were until now.
As our last GIVEAWAY of 2010, the kind people at King Arthur Flour are offering one reader with a USA street address two wonderful treats: "Deliciously Simple Chooclate Cake Mix" and "Chocolate Fudge Frosting Mix". Warning: Sisters and Brothers, your Chocolate Priestess is serious about honoring these chocolatiers and companies with a minimum number of entries. Our last contest for Praim chocolate bars fell short so no one won those. We'll get to the details of the giveaway at the end of this look at these two mixes.
Obviously if you want to make a chocolate cake you need to start with the cake. The "Deliciously Simple Chocolate Cake Mix" contains 22oz of all of the dry ingredients you'll need just like any other cake mixes you could find in almost any other food store.
You add three wet ingredients: water, vegetable oil, and eggs. I followed the directions and used a whisk to mix the entire thing. How many of you still whisk by hand?
The mix itself had an intense and wonderful cocoa scent as soon as I cut the plastic bag open. I added it slowly to the wet ingredients and I got a decent workout for my right arm from the mixing. I'm so spoiled by electric mixers!
If a mix has suggestions for how to improve or change a recipe and I think the basics are going well, I'll brave one of them. The mix has two suggested additions -- nuts or chocolate chips. Guess which one I went with? I used a mini form of chocolate chips so it would blend better. The chips themselves are gluten free, dairy free, supposedly the most allergen free chocolate chips on the market. I bought them on sale at our nearby Kroger.
I tried to divide the batter into two 8 inch round pans. The other option on the pan was to use a bundt but I didn't think that would frost as well. I think I did OK with the division but hey, frosting is what we use to cover up any inequalities between layers I think.
While the cakes cooled, they actually fit on my small racks, I turned to thinking about frosting and decoration. You can see that some of the mini chips stuck to the pans from the holes. Here is the recipe of what I did:
Whisk together 4 eggs, 2/3 cups vegetable oil, 1 1/3 water.
Add in the mix itself slowly.
Add in 1 cup mini chocolate chips.
Divide into 2 8 inch round pans and bake for 32 minutes at 350 degrees. (I use a gas oven so it required a few extra minutes)
For the frosting I used the King Arthur "Chocolate Fudge Frosting Mix" and followed the recommended directions. This means that I used half "butter" and half vegetable shortening. Here you see which brands I used. The key is to beat it on high for a long time, I beat it for seven minutes myself until it looked thoroughly blended and fluffy. Note: The frosting contains soy, eggs, milk and wheat.
After the cake cooled I frosted it and decided to use the last of the mini chocolate chips, about 3oz of them, to cover the top. I think it turned out fairly nice looking.
But check it out after we sliced the cake into 12 pieces. I think it looks beautiful, what do you all think? This is what was left after my small group of friends had their share. Everyone, I mean everyone, who tried a piece loved it. The cake was moist and very chocolaty. The frosting was also very chocolaty and the blend of butter and shortening didn't overwhelm the cocoa as I think can happen with all butter or all shortening, or perhaps it's a matter of inferior cocoa.
The instructions were easy to follow and the resulting product cake tasted amazing. Now, I've never seen these mixes in my grocery stores but you can find these and a bunch of other baking products the King Arthur Flour main website. Not only that, but in terms of our looking for fair trade and employee supportive businesses here on The Chocolate Cult, this company is 100% employee owned which means that they and not some big CEO or family or investors benefit from your purchases. Note: The factories where these are made also makes products with tree nuts though peanuts were not listed and I know that is a concern for some of you, Sisters and Brothers.
Now, let's talk GIVEAWAY.
From now until Friday, December 17, 2010, at 7am, you can do the following to enter this giveaway to win both a cake mix and a frosting mix.
You need to have a street address in the United States of America to win.
1. In a comment say how you are a public follower of The Chocolate Cult. Make sure you are, I check and a few folks are not showing up where they claim. Double check if you are at all uncertain. Make sure you have an email linked to your comment or leave on in your comment -- be wary of spammers and don't cut and paste your email please.
2. State what event or occasion you'd use this cake mix and frosting mix for.
Finally if you want extra chances to win and you want us to get to a minimum of entries so someone can win, you can spread the word about this giveaway. Send a link for this giveaway to Facebook and include @TammyJo Eckhart so I see it. Or Send a link to this giveaway to Twitter including @thetammyjo so I can see it. You can even "like" the King Arthur Flour page on Facebook and then thank them for the giveaway and I'll see that as well if you do @TammyJo Eckhart.
Good luck and spread the word about our very last GIVEAWAY for 2010!
I remember seeing it in stores as I was growing up and my mother saying "That's the best flour there is but we can't afford it" as she reached for another brand. That feeling stuck with me throughout my life. King Arthur was something I always looked at, wishing it were on sale and I had an amazing coupons. I just didn't now how versatile the company was and how good their products were until now.
As our last GIVEAWAY of 2010, the kind people at King Arthur Flour are offering one reader with a USA street address two wonderful treats: "Deliciously Simple Chooclate Cake Mix" and "Chocolate Fudge Frosting Mix". Warning: Sisters and Brothers, your Chocolate Priestess is serious about honoring these chocolatiers and companies with a minimum number of entries. Our last contest for Praim chocolate bars fell short so no one won those. We'll get to the details of the giveaway at the end of this look at these two mixes.
Obviously if you want to make a chocolate cake you need to start with the cake. The "Deliciously Simple Chocolate Cake Mix" contains 22oz of all of the dry ingredients you'll need just like any other cake mixes you could find in almost any other food store. 
Whisk together 4 eggs, 2/3 cups vegetable oil, 1 1/3 water.
Add in the mix itself slowly.
Add in 1 cup mini chocolate chips.
Divide into 2 8 inch round pans and bake for 32 minutes at 350 degrees. (I use a gas oven so it required a few extra minutes)
For the frosting I used the King Arthur "Chocolate Fudge Frosting Mix" and followed the recommended directions. This means that I used half "butter" and half vegetable shortening. Here you see which brands I used. The key is to beat it on high for a long time, I beat it for seven minutes myself until it looked thoroughly blended and fluffy. Note: The frosting contains soy, eggs, milk and wheat.
After the cake cooled I frosted it and decided to use the last of the mini chocolate chips, about 3oz of them, to cover the top. I think it turned out fairly nice looking.
The instructions were easy to follow and the resulting product cake tasted amazing. Now, I've never seen these mixes in my grocery stores but you can find these and a bunch of other baking products the King Arthur Flour main website. Not only that, but in terms of our looking for fair trade and employee supportive businesses here on The Chocolate Cult, this company is 100% employee owned which means that they and not some big CEO or family or investors benefit from your purchases. Note: The factories where these are made also makes products with tree nuts though peanuts were not listed and I know that is a concern for some of you, Sisters and Brothers.
Now, let's talk GIVEAWAY.
From now until Friday, December 17, 2010, at 7am, you can do the following to enter this giveaway to win both a cake mix and a frosting mix.
You need to have a street address in the United States of America to win.
1. In a comment say how you are a public follower of The Chocolate Cult. Make sure you are, I check and a few folks are not showing up where they claim. Double check if you are at all uncertain. Make sure you have an email linked to your comment or leave on in your comment -- be wary of spammers and don't cut and paste your email please.
2. State what event or occasion you'd use this cake mix and frosting mix for.
Finally if you want extra chances to win and you want us to get to a minimum of entries so someone can win, you can spread the word about this giveaway. Send a link for this giveaway to Facebook and include @TammyJo Eckhart so I see it. Or Send a link to this giveaway to Twitter including @thetammyjo so I can see it. You can even "like" the King Arthur Flour page on Facebook and then thank them for the giveaway and I'll see that as well if you do @TammyJo Eckhart.
Good luck and spread the word about our very last GIVEAWAY for 2010!
Comments
I would use this as a New Year's Eve treat!
nov231973 at gmail dot com
Hmm, it's a toss-up between a christmas cake, a new-years cake, and a birthday cake for mom in March.
E-mail is through Gmail, username is wyrenth
On the question of the cost of our flour, this page explains why even though our flour costs a bit more, it's a much better value: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/why/
Happy Holiday (Chocolate) Baking!
Allison@KingArthurFlour
I follow on Facebook and I would use this for Mate's birthday cake in January.
I follow on Facebook!
I'd likely use this for my son's birthday cake! It sounds great!
I think this mix would make the perfect King cake for Epiphany! A bit unorthodox, perhaps, but chocolate is most suitable for any occasion IMHO.
I follow through google.
I would make long a get better cake for after his surgery, lol.
I would make the cake as a gift for my father and sister for Winter Solstice, a potluck New Year's Eve contribution, or, I just realized, a cake for my very own birthday in Febuary!
Remember, comment early to enter contests so you don't forget and make sure you have an email attached to your account that allows you to post or put it in your comment as well. Double check to make sure the name that shows up in your comments matches the name you are listed under as a follower. It makes me sad when I have to remove people from the entry pool simply because I can't contact them or I can't find them where they said they followed.
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