Recipe for Disaster II

My "not-quite-two year old" and I took advantage of his older sister's playdate this morning to spend some quality time together in the kitchen. He was more than willing to take his sibling's place as Mommy's helper making cinnamon buns.

He dove eagerly into the role with typical boyish gusto; covering himself in flour from head to toe, wiping up some spilled batter with his socked foot and kneading the dough with a style reminiscent of teammates "high five-ing" after a well executed play. And he did it all with a smile, the whole while narrating his actions in the third person with all the panache of a bona-fide Food Network cooking show host:

"Henry makin' buns!...Henry dump in the sugar!...Henry mix it really fast, Mom!"

I know, I know...I'm one of those crazy moms that actually enjoys cooking with kids. I get a kick out of their foibles, think the mess is worth all the memories and...well, don't get one bit squeamish about eating their masterpieces. After all, we wash hands, attempt to keep all fingers from orifices they should not be in, and teach not to lick the spoons until all the mixing is finished. What's a few eggshells between family members anyways? There's no better time to start learning. And the way I see it...someday my children's spouses will thank me for it...if indeed we eventually grow out of eating the yeast, dropping the eggs on the floor and trying to put the used mixing spoon back in the utensil drawer after it is "licked clean."

All this to say that this morning's experience reminded me of a great recipe the kids and I made last week...a success I purposed to share with you all. It's a more child friendly attempt than cinnamon buns (easier!) and it's a huge hit with the young and old. So, if you're up for a culinary adventure, give it a try! And remember, the mess is worth the memories!

Chocolate Coconut Cake

(with apologies to Aunt Cindy* for all liberties taken)

Prepare 1 chocolate cake mix

-Add eggs and oil as per instructions (or let kids do it and thenspend a few minutes fishing out potential egg shells and removing oil from son's ear)

-Bake as per 9x11 instructions. Cool.

While cake is baking, have kids mix the Topping:

-2 cups Cool Whip

-1/2 cup sour cream

-1/2 cup powdered sugar

-1 cup coconut

Use the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes throughout top of cake.

-If you let your 3 year old do it, try to ignore your "concrete sequential" personality that insists the holes should be poked in perfectly straight and equal lines and rows. Instead...let your "abstract random" child enjoy making the perforations wherever he or she sees fit...truly, it doesn't matter in the end!

Pour over the cake: 1 can Cream of Coconut, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.

-If you can't find Cream of Coconut in your grocery store, I have used Coconut Milk as an adequate substitution - just drain off the water that settles at the top of the can.

-Let that sit for a bit until the liquid has soaked into the cake (this makes spreading on the topping a whole lot easier...it also gives you time to run a bath and get the sticky mess out of the "not-yet-two year old's" hair.)

Ice the cake with the Topping you mixed earlier and sprinkle with perfectly toasted coconut.

-Or...if you are like me and let the coconut burn to a crisp while you negotiated a peace treaty between two preschoolers battling over the rights to lick the batter off the spoon...dig around in your fridge for the Bounty chocolate bar your husband has hidden away behind the box of baking soda, chop that up and sprinkle liberally over the cake.

Let cake rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving and...enjoy!

*Disclaimer: Aunt Cindy is my mom's sister-in-law. She is one of those amazing cooks hailing from a place where good recipes are plentiful and food is drenched in southern hospitality and comfort...and if her name is on any given recipe, it is a guaranteed success. With that being said, this one is adapted from her Coconut Cake recipe. Since I did some tweaking of the original (as I am prone to do in the kitchen), I respectfully removed her name from the title, thereby eliminating any possibility of sullying her proven moniker or reputation in the world of culinary geniuses. If your cake is a flop, I take all the blame...on the other hand, if it is a big hit...I'll pass on much of the kudos to Aunt Cindy.