Perfect Homemade Suzy Q’s

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
Bake Time: 35-40 minutes
Yield: 12-14 Suzy Q’s

I’m continuing the “Great Hostess Bake-Off” this week with homemade Suzy Q’s. For this creation, I’m combining devil’s food cake with the Twinkie filling I used last week for Twinkie cupcakes. These flavors marry quite nicely because you have a rich and velvety dark chocolate cake filled with sweet vanilla frosting.

Thankfully, I have a ton of mini loaf pans because I make smaller loaves of bread whenever I want to try a new recipe on a lot of people. If you don’t have extra mini pans lying around, you can also use cupcake pans and make round Suzy Q’s. If you go this route, you’ll want to only use 3 eggs and cut the baking time down to 15-18 minutes.

Ingredients:

Devil’s Food Cakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup strong coffee
3/4 cup water
1 cup milk, room temperature

Suzy Q Filling
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons salted butter, cold
4 tablespoons shortening, cold
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions for Homemade Suzy Q’s:

Preparing the Suzy Q cakes. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray several mini-loaf pans or two cupcake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined and fluffy. I typically triple sift dry ingredients just to make sure everything is happy.

In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy; about 4 minutes.

With mixer running on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down sides of the bowl and mix well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract to the butter mixture and mix well. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine the coffee, water, and milk. Set aside. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the batter. Beat on low speed just until combined. Scrape sides of the bowl. Add about one-third of the liquid mixture and beat until combined. Continue adding the remaining flour and liquid alternately, beating just until combined after each addition. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

Fill the prepared pans by gently pouring the batter into each pan; fill until there is about 1/2 to 3/4-inch batter in the bottom of each pan. Bake Suzy Q cakes for 35-40 minutes; or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and transfer cakes to a wire rack to completely cool before filling with frosting.

Preparing the Suzy Q Filling. In a small saucepan, cook flour and milk over medium heat until they form a paste. Stir constantly and don’t let the mixture turn brown. Remove from heat and allow flour mixture to cool for 1 minute. Add vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Gently press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the frosting paste to prevent it from forming a skin.

In a large mixing bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer), beat butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. Scrape sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add the cooled flour mixture. Continue to mix on medium-high for 5 minutes, or until smooth and creamy.

Filling the Suzy Q’s. Transfer each cake to a cutting board and use a serrated knife to cut each cake in half lengthwise. Use a knife or small offset spatula to spread the filling across the bottom half of each cake. Place the top half of each cake back on the frosting coated bottom cake. Store Suzy Q’s tightly covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

This fine recipe was submitted by Gloria, she credits Brian at www.howtobaker.com