This used to be the famed chocolate jimmies cake or “ants” cake. I dubbed it the Old Time Garage Cake because it was the first cake she made for the Hurwitz brothers who gave Gma (“Mrs. Matasakah”) the red carpet treatment at their car repair shop. Once Gma started the tradition of baked treats for the crew, it became a bit of a cake-and-cookie frenzy with plenty of customers bringing their treats.
We essentially grew up with the Hurwitzes (Dad through sons) taking care of our generational cars – Gma eventually giving the youngest Hurwitz the infamous Ford Pinto that was dubbed “the bic lighter” by his older brothers.
If you’re from the northeast, jimmies are the chocolate sprinkles that go on ice cream or anything frosted. While no one knows for sure why they were called jimmies, over the years the term has been considered derogatory – and even that origin is unclear. So in the spirit of a cake that Gma made in appreciation of a family business, we will now call it The Old Time Garage Cake!
For the cake:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup butter softened
- 4 egg yolks
- 4 egg whites beaten stiff
- 3/4 cup of coffee (warm)
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts
- 1 1/2 cups of chocolate sprinkles
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Cream shortening and butter until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add egg yolks, one at a time, stirring between each egg yolk. Add cooled coffee and mix for 1 minute. Add in flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix until combined. Fold in jimmies. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Bake in a well greased large Bundt pan, checking with a toothpick at one hour.
At one point Gma switched over to mini chocolate chips instead of sprinkles.
I know several versions out there have glazes and use a portion of oil over all butter (keeps the cake lighter and moist). What versions or adaptions have you all tried?