This past Saturday was a busy day. Not only did I have a Strawberry Jam Canning Party (which I promise I'll post about soon!), we also had a baby shower for Amanda. Baby Lainey Jay is going to be born sometime between now and the end of August. "Auntie Kiss" (that's me) made her cake.

Amanda found a version of the cake online and I just customized it to what we liked. So, while I'd like to say this was my original idea, it wasn't. The one she saw was on Creative Baby Shower Ideas.

First, I made a 2 layer white cake. You can use any flavor of cake you like, just make sure you have two layers.

I started to use frosting in between the layers, but I wanted it to make it just a little more special so I mixed up a box of instant chocolate pudding using 1 1/2 cups of milk. Don't spread it quite to the edges of the cake and when you put the top layer on, press it down gently so you have a thick layer of pudding in between the layers.

Next, I put a thin layer of frosting around the edge of the cake and a thick layer of frosting on the top making sure I spread it all the way to the edge so that the cookies will have something to hold on to.


I used Piourette Pepperidge Farm Cookies to go around the edge. I cut them down to where they were just a little taller than the cake. Of course some of them were broken, but I just stacked the smaller pieces together to make a whole piece. Does that make sense?


To make the "water" on top of the cake, I mixed about 1/4 teaspoon of Wilton's blue frosting color with about a teaspoon of water (enough to make a very thin gel type consistency). Using a small paint brush, I painted in the water. We topped it with a rubber ducky we found in the baby section for $1.00.


The bakery at Walmart was nice enough to give us a container for the cake. I've needed a cake box before and was able to buy one from the bakery at the neighborhood grocery store for about 50 cents. I didn't know they sold them until I asked!

We tied a pink ribbon around the cake and that was well, like icing on the cake! Perfect for a baby girl's baby shower. The cake turned out really pretty and tasted so good!

I found this recipe in my 1968 New Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. It's really interesting to see that some recipes have stood the test of time by being passed down, but then there's this one for Mocha Mystery Delight that slipped through the cracks. I think maybe it was placed in this cookbook before it's time and I've unearthed a buried treasure!

This recipe is so simple, but I still seemed to overlook one tiny detail after reading the recipe THREE times before I attempted to make it. When I put the cake in the oven I realized it called for a 1-layer cake mix and I used a 2-layer cake mix. Trust me, this could be one of the reasons this recipe didn't quite make it. You want to use, well, the only option we have these days for cake mix, the 2-layer kind :)

You need:

1 chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist)
1 box of regular (not instant) chocolate pudding
1 tablespoon of instant coffee (if you don't have instant don't worry, read on)

First, turn the oven on 350 degrees.

The recipe said to grease a 9 x 9 x 2 cake pan. This should have been my first clue as to something being amiss, I KNEW it wasn't going to fit in that so I used an 11 x 9 x 3 pan. If you don't have one, don't go out and buy one, just use your 13 x 9 x 2 pan. I was out of Baker's Joy and still a little disappointed with it from the last time I used it, so I greased and floured the pan the old-fashioned way. Take your hand and scoop up a little shortening and spread a thin layer all over the bottom and sides of the pan.

Then dump about a tablespoon of flour in the pan and turn the pan to coat the sides and bottom of the pan with flour, tapping the sides of the pan with your hand. Hold the pan over the trash can to catch any flour that may fall out while you're coating the sides with flour, give it a good tap all over and dump the excess flour in the trash.

 Mix your cake mix according to the package directions and then pour it in your pan.


Mix together the instant coffee and 2 1/2 cups of cold water. If you don't have instant, just add 1/2 cup of water to 2 cups of cold (already brewed) coffee. Then gradually add the package of pudding and mix until it's dissolved, about a minute or so.


Next, evenly pour the coffee/pudding mixture over the cake batter. I was thinking it would sorta lay on top of the batter, but that didn't happen so I just poured it over the cake as evenly as I thought was even.


Put the cake in the oven for 45 minutes. You can check it before the time is up if you think your oven may cook a little fast. Just use a toothpick or knife to stick in the middle of the cake, don't go all the way to the bottom though, just about halfway down and if it comes out clean, it's done.


Use a spoon to scoop out a piece and put it on a plate. Serve warm with whipped cream!


FYI...If you make Mocha Mystery Delight, it should probably be eaten within about 3 or 4 days. The coffee gets stronger and stronger and whew...I love strong coffee, but dang that was intense!