I made this cake using Splenda sugar substitute, because my dad's diabetic. (I had to add 3/4 cup nonfat dry milk and 3/4 tsp baking powder so it would rise properly using the substitute.) Also, since I only had all purpose flour, I used that but substituted 2 tsp of cornmeal per cup as others had suggested. So with that in mind, the texture is nice and "heavy" compared to boxed cake, which I'm used to. This wasn't overly sweet, which I appreciate because very sweet cakes don't appeal to my family. My only gripe is that it is very eggy--I've made this 3x and next time I'll try using just 4 yolks like others have. Some people said this tastes like cornbread, and I can see the comparison because of the texture and the eggy-ness. I read the reviews beforehand but was still surprised that it reminded me of cornbread. No, there's not cornmeal in it but I liken it to the simple texture experiment where apples and onions are texturally indistinguishable among people who cannot smell/have their noses plugged. The textures were similar, maybe its because of the all purpose flour. The only time I made this using real sugar was when I used it for the Mandarin Orange Cake from this site, which normally uses boxed cake mix.
I made this a few years ago, and my brother loved it so much that he used to make it on a regular (weekly/biweekly) basis! Everyone in my family loves this; this is the only cake I can say I love eating. My Dad saw me baking his Father's Day cake, which WASN'T this one, and said "That cake your brother makes is really good..that orange one." Well I couldn't start over and now I know just to make this one always. It's moist but not too sweet, and the topping makes is soo good. The topping is even better than other whipped toppings that include cream cheese. If you're looking for a fruity cake, THIS IS IT. My brother, the Mandarin Orange Cake Lover, recently became a father so I baked him this cake without using the box mix--big mistake! Follow the recipes as is and it will be great. My family is very picky but this one is a favorite.
Followed the recipe exactly, but opted not to add the chocolate chips, and it just tasted really sweet but bland. The consistency was more like coffee cake. My boyfriend liked these, but not as 'brownies.' Mine baked maybe 5 to 10 minutes quicker, but all bakers know to check and never rely on times, they're only guidelines since ovens vary in temperature. (I'm really surprised how many people don't know that on this site.) Since it was already so sweet, I'm going to try a modification: without white sugar, with butterscotch chips and marshmallows, and only 1 tsp of baking powder. Really wasn't impressed, but I see it as a good starting base.
The recipe says to cut into 1/2 inch pieces, and I doubted it but decided to follow the directions exactly..The bread was so tiny I think a mouse would be offended! It was about the size of the quarter. (I took them out much earlier since they're tiny.) So use your judgement and cut it bigger. Pan de sal is a little bland, but not this bland. It didn't taste like it at all. I think different regions have different pan de sal, because ours aren't crispy, they're slightly denser and crumbly and sweeter. We're from Pampanga. I don't understand why it says to knead 10 minutes, because my dough was smooth and elastic by 5 minutes. I don't think I'll make this again, it didn't even taste better than a regular dinner roll.
I followed the recipe exactly, but after rolling it, the dough became soft, sticky and kept breaking. It also became very greasy. It doesn't taste like buttercream, just like a very sweet paste. I'm sure kids wouldn't mind it, but I personally don't care for the taste. This is my first experience with fondant, and while I'm sure it tastes 100% better than a store bought fondant, it doesn't compete with a traditional frosting. If I ever made it again, I would try reducing the amount of corn syrup and shortening by half. It's probably a good base recipe for tweaking, but didn't work for me and the other lone reviewer who had a not so great experience.
2 tsp of milk was way too little, I ended up mixing in 3 additional tsp. This was definitely an easy icing, just adjust the amounts for the consistency you want. I didn't have almond extract (and don't like it, anyway) so I just used vanilla. This is my first time making this, and it definitely tastes bad while it's still wet. After it dries on the cookie, though, it's very good. My cookies became cloudy the day after, though I'm not sure whether it's because I'm new to this and didn't mix it thoroughly enough, or just something in the recipe.
This is actually Wilton's Extra Special Buttercream Icing. I made this recipe to decorate a cake, and then found it on Wilton's site, where the exact recipe is listed, also stating that it has to be refrigerated always. That ended up being such a bummer, because I didn't want a frosting that required refrigeration. I followed others advice and used 5 cups of sugar instead of 8--it was definitely a lot better than when I made it the first time, because I hate frosting that is sickly sweet. This was easy to decorate with, but since it's the type that needs refrigeration I won't be making it again.
I was disappointed with the taste of these cookies. They tasted artificial; if someone had gifted them to me, I would have thought they used packaged brownie or cake mix as the base for them. It's probably because the recipe uses shortening and no butter/margarine. So that really defeated the purpose of homemade. The frosting was also too sweet, and reminded me of store-bought frosting. Overall it's okay, but if I make it again I'll use the appropriate amount to sub butter for shortening, and use a different frosting that I already like. I'm sure using the nuts would make it taste much better, but opted not to use them because my coworker is allergic to them. Great concept, but not impressed.
These tasted salty, and the texture was strange. Light, with lots of pockets of air, not dense at all like a muffin usually is. They were moist, but that's all that I could say that was good about them. I almost trashed them, but I know people who'll eat anything. I did tear up the recipe sheet and throw that away. The simple ingredients drew me to this one, but I think muffins really need butter/margarine. Thanks but I'll keep on looking.
I took another reviewer's method and used the oven instead of boiling the mixture in a can. The top layer of the milk did nearly burn after an hour, but it was easily removed. I used 1/4 rum for one can of milk to adjust it to my tastes...IT'S SO GOOD. I hesitated to use the original method of browning the milk simply because the can has a label saying 'Do Not Heat in Can.' I've been told this pertains to using on a fire, but it was easier and FASTER to go with the oven method anyway. I do not like the taste of alcohol, so add the rum slowly until you have the taste you want. The full amount would be too much for 'light' drinkers.
I followed the recipe without any changes. I wouldn't change anything about the roll recipe. It is exactly what I wanted. However, while I really like the crunchiness and texture of the topping, I really disliked the taste. Particularly, I thought it tasted too much like the active yeast. Meanwhile, my partner thought the sugar made the topping too sweet. I'll definitely make this again but with adjustments to the topping. Thanks for sharing this! Our grocery store always runs out of these, and I'm happy to be able to make them at home.
