Better than sex cake explained
Better than sex cake |
Alternate Name: | Better than Robert Redford cake |
Country: | United States |
Served: | Chilled, or just cooled |
Main Ingredient: | Flour, sugar, baking soda, water, eggs, vegetable oil, crushed pineapple, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, coconut flakes |
Variations: | chocolate, caramel, toffee |
Better than sex cake is a cake baked using yellow cake mix, with a juicy pineapple center, covered with layers of vanilla pudding and sweetened whipped cream, and sprinkled with coconut flakes.[1] [2] [3] A variant using chocolate cake mix, caramel topping, and crumbled toffee is known by similar names such as better than Robert Redford cake.[4] [5] [6]
The cake's moist center is typically created by inserting a fork into the cake several times and filling the holes with a mixture containing sugar and pineapple in its juice. It is traditionally baked using a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan and then refrigerated and eaten cold.[1] [7] The cake was featured by Paula Deen on her series Paula's Home Cooking.[8] [9] [10]
The cake's popularity was spreading in the west coast of Florida and in Charlotte, North Carolina when it came to the attention of the 1981 St. Louis annual convention of the Newspaper Food Editors and Writers Association.[1] [2] [11] It was published as a pair of dessert recipes, with the other one from Indianapolis called "next best thing to Robert Redford" and featuring layers of chopped pecans, cream cheese, chocolate pudding and whipped cream, with grated chocolate candy bar sprinkled on top.[1]
By 1990, several versions existed.[12] The basic recipe for the cake has been altered depending on the tastes of the person making the cake and alternates include chocolate, banana, or candy flavors.[13] [14] A 1998 Kansas variant used chocolate cake mix, sweetened condensed milk, caramel ice cream topping, and crumbled toffee.[4] The less-explicit "better than Robert Redford" name came to be applied to both variants.[15] [5] [6]
See also
External links
Notes and References
- News: Just deserts? These have a little extra zing . April 23, 2023 . . July 22, 1981.
- Book: Greene . Bert . Bert Greene (cookbook author) . Bert Greene's Kitchen: A Book of Memories and Recipes . 1993 . . 184.
- News: Powell . Mary Alice . Cakes Worth The Wait . April 23, 2023 . The Blade . May 25, 1983.
- News: Better Than Sex' Recipe Takes The Cake In Contest. 23 September 2013. Lawrence Journal-World. Oct 28, 1998.
- Book: Dave Monroe, Fritz Allhoff. Food and Philosophy: Eat, Think, and Be Merry. 2007. Wiley-Blackwell. 978-1405157759. 166.
- News: East meets west on Susan Chartier's Island. 23 September 2013. KCAW. September 7, 2013.
- News: Holland. Barb. Pineapples make cake 'better than sex'. 23 September 2013. Toronto Star. Oct 21, 1992. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160505222859/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/doc/436708607.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct%2021,%201992&author=Barb%20Holland&pub=Toronto%20Star&edition=&startpage=&desc=Pineapples%20make%20cake. 5 May 2016.
- News: Moskin . Julia . From Phobia to Fame: A Southern Cook's Memoir . April 21, 2022 . The New York Times . February 28, 2007.
- News: Moskin . Julia . Food Network Drops Paula Deen . April 21, 2022 . The New York Times . June 21, 2013.
- Book: Horwitz . Tony . Spying on the South: An Odyssey Across the American Divide . 2020 . Penguin Books . New York . 9781101980309 . 46 . April 21, 2022.
- News: America's food fads in summer of '82 . April 23, 2023 . . August 18, 1982.
- News: Schwartz. Marlyn. Can food be better than sex?. 23 September 2013. Dallas Morning News. April 29, 1990. https://web.archive.org/web/20160513024858/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D0FCF49FB144&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. 13 May 2016.
- News: Bennet. Bev. 'Better-Than-Sex' Takes the Cake. 23 September 2013. Chicago Sun-Times. February 18, 1993.
- News: Several ways to make cake better than sex. 23 September 2013. Austin American-Statesman. April 13, 1994.
- Book: Byrn . Anne . The Cake Mix Doctor . 1999 . . New York, NY . 0-7611-1719-9 . 169, 171 . April 10, 2023.