6 Reviews of Sanders' Chocolate Bumpy Cake

From: The Sugar Elf

On Aug 5, 2008

I agree with Chef #593724 This recipe IS a mess! I made this one and found the same mistakes in it that Chef did. The cake portion turned out great, but the icings were another story. The buttercream refused to firm up enough to "roll into" anything. I ended up pipping the "rolls" onto the cake with a #12 tip. The fudge portion ended up firming too early and was not pourable. I tried spreading it on the cake, but that didn't work either because it was too warm and ended up melting the buttercream "rolls". It tasted great, but the appearance was disastrous.

From: Chef #454408

On Feb 23, 2009

I worked in a Sander's Restaurant in Ann Arbor, Mi growing up. The trick to this frosting is to beat it for at least 10 min and to add the extra xxx sugar to make it stiffer for the logs and get it cold. Put it in your pastry bag first and set in the fridge till it gets stiff. Yes piping them on is the best way. Leave out the vanilla if its too sweet for you. This is not the frosting that was put on the regular cakes, it was the butter, crisco, milk, vanilla one. Some people add a beaten egg white. Also, warm the milk and the sugar in the micro about 30 sec. Just lukewarm; enough to melt the sugar and beat it in to the butter/crisco mixture. Don't overheat the milk or it won't come together and it will not work in a HOT kitchen or hot day. Cocoa goes in to the warm mixture. Do not boil the buttermilk with the sugar mixture;add it with the rest.

From: Chef #593724

On Sep 22, 2007

This recipe is a mess! As I was reading the buttercream icing portion - I couldn't imagine how it could become thick enough to be able to "shape" into 1 inch rolls. Sure enough, I made this cake and there was no way you could "shape" rolls out of the icing. I ended up pouring the icing over the whole cake. Then, when making the fudge frosting - it never tells you when to add the cocoa, and it tells you to add the vanilla, but it isn't listed in the ingredients. I added 1/2 tsp. since that was the amount used in the buttercream. Also, because the cake rose higher in the center, when I poured on the fudge frosting, it all ran to the edges of the pan, even overflowing, and left the center of the cake pretty much bare of fudge frosting. What a mess to make! Not to mention the cost - lots of butter, powdered sugar, etc. And it tastes horrible! So sugary - you might as well pour a whole cup of sugar right down your throat - same effect. Don't waste your time on this one...

From: Chef #187299

On Jan 13, 2005

This did not taste at all like the Sanders cake I remember. It was way too sugary.

From: Chef #1145405

On Jan 26, 2009

Wow - I had such good reviews from my husband and family. There were so surprise at how the cake looked and tasted like Sander's bumpy cake. Yes, was a bit messy but fun too. I look forward to practicing making this cake. (When to put the cocoa in? During the making of the chocoloate frosting, needs to cook, so I put it in while on the stove cooking.)

From: Chef #1185642

On Feb 27, 2009

After baking and freezing the cake part the day before, my husband and I finished making this cake today. I can't imagine where someone says this only takes 20 minutes prep time. 1. Be sure to use a big mixer...we did it with a hand mixer, which made the job harder. 2. The buttercream recipe made a lot more than we needed. Even with huge "bumps" on the cake, I ended up freezing a container of the buttercream. I did add an extra 1/2 cup powdered sugar at the end and had no trouble forming the bumps, not by rolling them, but by placing hunks of the frosting in a line cross-wise on the cake, about an inch apart and then shaping it into five bumps. 3. We had the most trouble with the fudge frosting..not having a candy thermometer. What we thought was the "soft ball" stage, apparently was a little past it and the fudge frosting was grainy and not pourable. We took it off the stove, added some regular milk and beat it gently until it became pouring consistency. (don't beat too much or it will become fluffy. This worked just fine and set up great. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. It is very, very rich...so I cut the cake into 5 sections, each with a bump and froze 4 sections. We are now enjoying the first section with thin slices and getting a Sanders "fix".