Dolly Madison

Former U.S. President James Madison's wife did not create this baking company, despite the fact that her name is on every carrot cake, crumb cake, and Zinger that comes off the production line. It was instead company founder Roy Nafziger's brainstorm to use the former first lady's name since she was notorious for throwing huge shindigs featuring a fine selection of desserts and baked goods. Nafziger said his company would create cakes "fine enough to serve at the White House." While I don't expect anyone is served Zingers during their stay in the Lincoln Bedroom, I will agree that these little snack cakes are a tasty way to appease a sweet tooth.

The cake batter is easy since you just use any instant devil's food cake mix. I like Duncan Hines. As for the frosting, it may not come out as dark brown as the original since the recipe here doesn't include brown food coloring (caramel coloring). But the taste will be right on.

The fun doesn't stop here! Learn how to make more of your favorite snacks like Hostess Twinkie, Drakes Devil Dogs, and Hostess Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

When Interstate Brands started the Dolly Madison line of baked goods that has today become the convenience store leader, it was known as Interstate Bakeries. Roy Nafziger started the bakery in 1927, and he could only have dreamed that one day his company would ring up more than one billion dollars in sales. One item that contributes to those impressive sales figures are these little brown sugar/cinnamon-topped cakes, which have become a popular addition to the Dolly Madison line of baked goods since the late eighties.

We can easily create a low-fat home clone of the real thing with only seven ingredients, thanks to white cake mix that can be found in practically all stores. Notice that the cake mix is not a reduced-fat variety. That's not necessary for the recipe to produce little cakes that taste just like the real thing, but still have less than one-third the fat. And even though the original is sort of square-shaped, we'll use a couple of 12-cup muffin pans to simplify the process. The shape will be different, but the flavor will be right on.

Check out my recipe for Dolly Madison Zingers here. 

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 cake
Total servings–24
Calories per serving–111 (Original–170)
Fat per serving–1.7g (Original–6g)

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.

In the late thirties, as Roy Nafziger noodled through some names for his new line of baked goods for the Cakes Division of Interstate Bakeries, he decided on the name of former U.S. President James Madison's wife. Why her, you ask? Apparently the flamboyant first lady enjoyed entertaining guests with elaborate parties at the White House, and served those guests a fine selection of desserts and baked goods. Nafziger figured his company would create cakes "fine enough to serve in the White House." So, the name stuck, and today the company is a member of the Interstate Brands Corporation family, which also includes Hostess as part of a recent acquisition.

These carrot cakes have been sold off and on through the years, but never as a reduced-fat version. So, with applesauce and egg substitute jumping in for some of the fat, here's a TSR version of the tasty carrot cake for the fat-conscious. You'll swear it's the original, but each slice comes in at less than 4 grams. Even with butter in the icing, that's better than half the fat of the real thing.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 slice
Total servings–10
Calories per serving–520 (Original–360)
Fat per serving–3.5 g (Original–8g)

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.